SEEING EVERYDAY LIVING THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT’S LENS

Some very sordid realities of life have opened my eyes to how much the Holy Spirit can transform. Here’s my experience from a while back.

In my proud second homeland, Etinan, there’s a couple who deal on some basic everyday household supplies. Since they are situated just a pole away from my place, they’ve always had the call whenever need arises to get something urgently and the market seems not to be a considerable option.

Now to my experience… A certain morning I had a long nursed craving to satisfy, I had hit the kitchen to start up my expedition when I noticed that one of the key ingredients I had needed got finished. As usual, I didn’t give it a second thought before strolling out to get it at that shop, just a pole away.

As my morning routine involves engaging in edifying activities, my earphones were plugged in and one of Theophilus’ heated worship sessions was blasting in my ears. I was literally caught up! Approaching the compound, I observed the husband was mowing the lawn. I carefully took out one of my earphones so I could hear him in case he says anything after I had greeted him.

My “good morning” met a very loud silence on his end. As usual, I assumed he was consumed by some serious thinking or the work he was doing, and so I moved onto my own agenda. On reaching the shop, I noticed no one on the sales desk. I stood and gave a few call-out, and got no response as well. Meanwhile, the man outside was very much aware of what was going on.

At the same, there were creaking sounds as could be obtained when washing shelled periwinkles, which suggested that the shopkeeper was somewhere behind the house, working. It wasn’t my place to go in there and call someone out, at least, courtesy demands you don’t storm into people’s backyards uninvited, so I waited a while hoping someone would show up.

After a while of futile wait, coupled with my penchant hatred for unnecessary waste of time, I decided to approach the man on the lawn to ask if he could fit the salesman role temporarily and serve my need. I approached him with the words “Excuse me sir, I can’t seem to find someone on the sales desk, can you…”

I hadn’t finish that statement when a very hot rebuke fell on my only free ear (remember, Theophilus was still ministering in the other…😁). “Can’t you hear my wife in the backyard to call her out?” He asked.

I couldn’t help but wonder if it was my duty to go call her out but… I kept quiet as he continued. “You’re very disrespectful, how can you come in here with this nonsense plugged into your ear?…. How would you know what to do when you’ve sealed your ear?” He asked furiously but rhetorically.

Ain’t no way I would have answered any of those, cause the argument was a full-blown falsehood.

Wow! “Nice experience for a perfectly fine morning, isn’t it?” I muttered within as I quietly left his presence to meet the person behind – the one that had capacity to solve my problem.

In summary, I finally got what I needed but all through the morning, I couldn’t help wondering what could have possibly happened that fuelled the man’s anger that much. I wandered a bit in thoughts…

“Could he be having problems with his wife?”

“Is everything okay with his family?”

“Could it be a frustration from his business?”

Many thoughts went through my mind, and I just muttered some silent prayers, asking God to help restore peace to him.

It baffled me that someone had just punched hard on my ego, in the early hours of the morning, and all I could do was be that gracious.

I recalled a certain time where I wouldn’t have hesitated to dish out some hot reciprocations or stormed out of the compound, after all, the money was mine, and there were so many other places to buy from.

But no, it didn’t come to me that way this time. It didn’t even cross my mind as an opinion, to reciprocate.

I was more concerned about what could possibly make the man so angered in the morning of a new day. I knew I wasn’t the problem, and I knew responding to the hot splashes of words wouldn’t yield any tangible result either.

It took another while to understand that my reaction to that situation was not mine, but that of the Spirit, whose character does not leave kindness, self-control, goodness, love and peace to chance. I realized that the character of the Spirit had become my reality, and it informed even the tiniest bit of my reaction to issues.

I believe this lesson was worth sharing, to the believers especially. What defines your approach to life’s issues? Do you deal from emotions or a spirit controlled temperament?

Give it a thought, and if you realize that the character of the Spirit as written in Galatians 5: 22 – 23 is yet to become your default, then, there’s work to be done.

P.S. Just one word, phrase, clause or sentence can bring the positive change that you need. Find it here @gloryinyou⭐😇