Fooling God?

It was a technical disobedience
The one in which you disobey in
action while you tried to keep an
appearance of obedience
The Lord tells you not to do something,
so you don’t do it directly but you do
it indirectly and expect God to understand
That kind of disobedience where it
would seem as if you are fooling God
The man came to see the Brother in
Jeans and T-shirt
He was a senior executive with NEPA
He was a believer, a pastor
The jurisdiction his office covered
was industrial
A lot of textile factories depended on
the goodwill of his office for
electricity distribution
Their cost of production significantly
lessens when they use the government’s
electricity supply rather their industrial
generators
Before he got promoted to the head of
that station, he fasted and prayed for
breakthrough
He had been due for promotion for
many years but he kept being overlooked
by the powers that be
He talked to people, tried to lobby,
wrote petitions, raised some dust
Nothing he did worked
Eventually, he went to God in prayer
He made a vow to God
“I will never collect bribe or get
involved in any corrupt practice
if you will promote me and turn the
tide of favour my way”
God heard his prayer
A week after the vow, he got his
letter of promotion
He was given the position of
General Manager of the most lucrative
district in Lagos
The district was called Five star
All the General managers posted
to that district got rich within a
short time
The office had a system of extortion
that worked like a well-oiled machine
Most of the manufacturing companies
owed the government a great deal of
money in unpaid bills
Rather than pay bills, they bribed
the NEPA officials in that
district to look the other way
It was a corruption of the highest order
Rather than disconnect the factories,
they keep supplying them electricity
and the factories, in turn, bring huge
bribes to the general manager’s
office which he shares with his
staff members
Once the bribe was paid, the manager
calls off his enforcement team for
another month
They share the bribe and wait only to
repeat the process the following month
The bribe they realize every month
ranges from 50 to 100 million Naira
depending on how desperate the
factories were to keep the
government hounds away
That was what he met on the ground
when he resumed at his post
He was determined to keep his vow
but he was warned by the General
Manager he took over from that if
he refused to play ball with the
manufacturing industries by refusing
the bribes, they might get desperate
enough to kill him or make phone calls
to have him transferred out of the station
It was a warning that was reinforced
by two visitors that came to congratulate
him as soon as he resumed
The first was the public relations
officer of one of the textile companies
who came with a welcome gift of 500,000
Naira stuffed in a Ghana-Must-Go bag
When he told the man he couldn’t
collect such a gift, the man said jokingly
“Would you rather collect two bullets?
It was said under the cover of laugher
and a smile but it reinforces the
warning he got from the outgoing
manager
The second visitation was from the
representative of an industrialist who
came to his office with a welcome
gift of an all-expense-paid trip to Dubai
A trip he was told he cannot refuse
because the man waiting for him in
Dubai was a powerful industrialist
who will never take a no for an answer
That was the murky water he found
himself in
He knew his staff members would never
settle for honest work and salary
Many of them bribed their way to be
posted to that office because of the
ill-gotten gains associated with that
station
He had to be very careful
He gave it a lot of thought and told
himself wisdom was profitable to direct
He was determined to keep his vow
but at the same time he was determined
to satisfy the people
He appointed a secretary in the office
who dealt with the representatives of the
factories
He turned a blind eye to her dealings
with them
She became the face of corruption
She collected the bribes and shared
the money as she saw fit
She also credited his wife’s bank
account with his share
Nothing came directly to him or to
his knowledge
He had deniability
He
believed that should satisfy God
See no evil, hear no evil, know no evil,
touch no evil
The arrangement made him rich
He built two houses at the same time
One in the village and one in Lagos
His children started attending the
choice schools and he became rich
He never asked his
wife any question regarding the money
His wife didn’t talk about it too
The two women in his life isolated him
from reality
He was able to boast at meetings that
his hands were clean and that he was
keeping his vow to God
He was profiting from corruption while
pretending to be above reproach
He was fooling God
It lasted for just two years
The Assistant General Manager became
ambitious
The man had more money than he
had need of
He went to the head office and started
throwing money around
He wanted his seat, lobbied for it and
he got it
He got a memo
on the first day of May that petitions
had been raised against him alleging
him of gross misconduct and therefore
he had been placed on suspension
with immediate effect pending the
outcome of an investigation
It was a rude shock
He was escorted out of the station
by two security men
An office that his openly corrupt
predecessors left with pomp and
pageantry
An office that he was supposed to
enjoy for at least five years
An office that he was given by
prayer and much supplication
It was a disgrace and a shame
The way he was taken out like a
criminal
He cried all the way home
For three days he threw himself
into a hunger strike
Why would God allow the enemy to
have the last say after all the effort
he put into keeping his vow and
being a good ambassador of Christ?
He paid his tithe and gave his offerings
He felt betrayed by God
His wife urged him to seek help
regarding the pending investigation
into his corrupt practices
Nothing could be traced to him
directly and whatever was given to
his wife was paid in cash into a
corporate account that also couldn’t
be tied to either of them
His wife believed
he had a case
He believed so too
He was also sure he had many
adversaries and the AGM will not sit still
If the man was desperate enough to
instigate his fall, what wouldn’t the
man do to keep the coveted seat?
This was why the man came to see
the Brother in Jeans and T-shirt
He wanted to win
As soon as he finished telling his story,
the Holy Spirit told the Brother in
Jeans and T-shirt to ask him three
questions
1) Can I be fooled?
2) Can anything be hidden from me?
3) Were you faithful?
The man started to shake and tremble
The illusion of obedience he
built had been torn to shreds
He told the truth while crying bitterly
He said he kept his vow on the
surface while breaking it in secret
He said his hands were clean in the
eyes of the world but unclean in his
secret chambers
He said it was an impossible situation
He pleaded for
mercy
They prayed together
The panel sat & did their investigation
When it was his turn to speak, he told
them the whole truth
The panel already knew the truth
They were aware of the impossible
situation he was in
The AGM had expected him to deny
everything as he had always done
His straightforward approach helped
The government was determined to
send an honest man to the station
and turn things around
The panel reinstated him with a lot
of support and new staff members
With their help, he was able to right
his wrong and reform the station
He retired seven years later.

PS: God told me never to start a
church
I didn’t start one but got so involved
in one that it was difficult to separate
me from the church
I was technically obedient
I could have sworn i didn’t do
anything wrong
Until he came to me with that look
That look of
who do you think you are fooling?
It is a difficult thing to fall into the
hands of God
I know His love but he has come
this far with me and will not allow
me to stray
He has a plan I am a part of
The plan requires my obedience to
work
I got His message and retraced my
steps it was tough
A lot of people got hurt as a result of
my actions
it was a damned if you do and damned
if you don’t affair
I have apologized to everybody
and cried my eyes out in the past few
days
He is the only audience I must please
His displeasure is a burden too hard
to bear
Are you caught up in disobedience in
any way?
Are you rationalizing it?
Are you so proud that you cant throw
everything into the wind and turn
back to him?
Status and self are illusions that keep
us separated from Him
Look beyond the opinion of men
Return to your first love now!