As soon as he said "Without a job" the congregation gasped!
It was impossible to even contemplate that the man was out of job for a second
He always dressed corporately and drove a good car
Everybody saw him as one of the gainfully employed
They were at a vigil when the issue came to light
The pastor of the church heard the testimony of one of the men of the church earlier that week and decided to allow him to share with the brethren
The man took the microphone and explained how he had
As soon as he said "Without a job" the congregation gasped!
It was impossible to even contemplate that the man was out of job for a second
He always dressed corporately and drove a good car
Everybody saw him as one of the gainfully employed
The man explained further that a week after he lost his job in a stock brokering firm, his wife found him crying and promised him she would ensure his shame was covered
The man said at the end of every month, his wife would hand over her ATM card to him and
She knew he would eventually catch a break but she was determined not to let him suffer simply because times were hard
The man talked on and on about his wife's support
and love
While the talk was going on, the
When the man was done, a lady raised up her hand in the congregation
She said she wanted to ask a question
She was the assistant pastor's wife
When she was given the microphone, she said she didn't see any wisdom in what the man's wife
She said she believed hunger is a strong motivator for success
If you feed a jobless man and make him feel comfortable, he will assume all him well and dump the responsibility of the marriage on the wife
He who did not work, should not eat
It was a principle she learnt from
It was a principle that she had discovered to be tested and proven
As far as she was concerned, what happened with the man and his wife was just luck
The lady's comment caused an uproar in the church
Her husband (The Assistant pastor) just lost his job and had confided
The pastor didn't want the wife to know the husband had reported and decided to use the testimony to educate her on how to treat her husband in such a time
Her response was not taken lightly by many in the church
Others
Some even insulted her tacitly for being so myopic
After the vigil, she told her husband he would have to leave the house she paid for unless he got something doing
The people talking thrash in the church have never walked a mile in her shoes
She cannot be labouring while a man would be watching TV hoping to catch a break
Her older brother didn't have a job too but he got involved in the illegal oil bunkering business at Ikorodu
He was a graduate who did not mind getting his
Her brother was making between ten and twenty thousand Naira daily
He was feeding himself and increasing his savings daily
Why couldn't her husband get into the oil bunkering too?
Her husband said he was a pastor and that it was illegal
She said he should move out of
The bible says "A man who cannot provide for his own household is worse than an infidel
It was a fierce battle
Her husband caved in and called her brother
He joined the oil bunkering business
Whatever he made daily, he dropped on the dining table without touching a kobo
Eventually, soldiers were deployed by the federal government to stop the bunkering and he had to return home
Two weeks after he returned home, his wife's brother started an internet fraud scheme
He was glad his wife didn't invite him
After a few weeks, the brother had to collect some money from the bank (from the people he had scammed) and his wife volunteered him as the person who should pick up the cash
He protested but his wife and her brother told him the money was sent in his name
It was the scariest day of his life
He thought he was going to be arrested and whisked away to jail every minute until he got out of the bank
When he got home, he went on his knees and prayed
"O God! Please, arise for my help! I dont want to do this anymore!"
At the end of the first month on the job, he collected his salary and gave everything to his wife
He thanked her for standing by him when things were tough
His wife was overjoyed!
Finally, they had gotten to a good place
One week later, he
His wife waited for three days before reporting at the police station
When she called the pastor to inform her, the pastor told her he just finished speaking with her husband
The pastor called the husband and asked him where he was
The husband said he
The pastor was shocked
The wife was shocked too
She said they didn't have any fight or disagreement
The pastor called for a meeting
They met at the pastor's house that evening
The Husband told the pastor what she made him do during
He had started smoking and drinking (An habit he picked up while bunkering oil)
He had carried a lot of guilt and resentment in his heart towards God and his wife
He said he felt like Esau, who sold his birthright for a morsel of bread
He said he felt like Adam
He said he felt like King Ahab, who was prompted by Jezebel to provoke God
The pastor couldn't believe everything his assistant was confessing to
At the end of the meeting, the pastor's assistant had resigned and left both
PS: It took the brother five years to return to Christ
He never returned to the marriage
His wife remarried after waiting for three years
He remarried in 2018 and has a daughter
He said she made him do things that made him hate himself
Prayer is the key!
