Isolation For Slaughter

My name is Olakunle Brown Adeboye. I was born into a family of seven as the third of five children. By the age of three, I was already aware of some ethics of the church from the children’s Sunday lessons. In as much as I went for these lessons, I never knew what it meant to be a Christian. I was a master at cramming and reciting some passages of the bible. Psalm 23, Psalm 90.  The Lord’s Prayer was my favorite. To me, they were other sets of nursery rhymes.

April 15, 1950 I had succeeded spending about 18 years on earth as a mere church attendee. I completed my secondary school education and immediately got an invitation from the University of Ibadan to study medicine. This catalyzed my careless living style; nobody meant anything to me again. Anybody that saw me then would think I had big boils under my armpits, my walking steps changed.

One night in school, I encountered God. That night, just like Paul of the bible, I encountered Him through a brother that constantly came after me. Even though the encounter didn’t come with this ferocious experience, I still felt the peace and joy of salvation. I grew crazily and fervently like a baby that constantly fed on breast milk. The heartbeat of God became my favorite music and I danced to it well.

A thief comes but to steal, kill and destroy. My sweet relationship with God started deteriorating a month to my first examination in medical school. Anxiety really stole the place for Gods’ zeal in my heart. I started consulting God less, prayer and meditation on the words of the bible became a serious burden. Hearing from the Lord became a thing of the past, God couldn’t get to me, I was too busy to see and acknowledge Him. Due to this, because he couldn’t bear seeing me go astray, He spoke to me in a dream.

In the dream, I saw some children with someone that looked like their father. They were happily running and jumping around him under a large tree in a big mansion. Then a tall black male stranger appeared on the background. Suddenly, one of the children stopped jumping and shifted his attention from his guardian to the stranger just outside. The stranger didn’t come alone; he came with plenty of sweets, cupcakes and toys for kids. He dangled them tirelessly. They were all irresistible. Slowly, the small boy left the company of other children and his father to have a look and maybe taste of the latest arrivals. His stray mission continued severally each time the stranger appeared until he got completely cut off from his father and other children.

The stranger came again one afternoon with his goodies, the boy left eagerly as usual to meet him, but that was his last. Getting closer, he failed to notice an oncoming truck, no alert came from the now smirking stranger. Crushed by the truck, the boy died.

Most times, God chooses to speak to us with dreams, at night, when we are at rest because he cannot reach the busy us through His word during the day.

Like a natural being, I woke up and was quite scared of the horrible dream, but as a supernatural being of the kingdom of God, I refused to discern, I didn’t notice God talking to me as I soon forgot the dream. Several other dreams I couldn’t understand until now came but I didn’t yield. Then He left my prodigal self. He knew I couldn’t run farther than His hands could reach me.

I got completely cut off. Things I hated before then became my hobbies. I soon forgot why I shouldn’t do them, even though they never really looked like sinful acts. I rose from taking 2 bottles of Vodka to 10. I spent almost 20 out of 24 hours of each day in clubs, the remaining 4 hours I used lying in gutters after getting drunk.  My parents never knew these things. Normal students studied medicine for 6 years, I studied mine for 13 years, yet I couldn’t graduate, thanks to my greatest asset; Lie.

At a time, the amount I received from home became insufficient for me. I needed another source of income. Money rituals came to my mind at first but I quickly stepped out, it was too bloody, sinful and devilish. Finally, I settled for armed robbery. Thanks to my newly acquired friends then. We robbed great banks and companies for 5 years.

But of course, we were not like immortals that could not be killed or caught. We got nabbed during one robbery operation to the First bank of Nigeria. We had already completed the robbery and were on our way to the exit when the police force arrived. We got fooled and caught by the bank’s highly sophisticated security and alarming system.

So many gang members died that day, anger took over me and I personally gunned down 6 police men. I took few shots into myself but was lucky to be alive with a badly wounded left leg.  Six months later, the leg got amputated because it lacked adequate medical care.

After so many trials, I landed in prison. The Court sentenced me to life imprisonment. My siblings wept, the church prayed and fasted and enemies laughed. I remember vividly the way my mother rolled on the court floor. For the first time in my life, I saw my father crying, drops of tears fell from his fatherly eyes as he shook on the back bench were he sat in the court.

I was forced me to sit, since I refused to relax and listen to God for almost 20 years. My life grew worse during my first 10 years in prison. I picked new habits. It was there I got forcefully, against my will turned gay. I became a constant object of sexual gratification to the hefty monsters of Kirikiri prison. Things became worst until one evening when some evangelical group came on prison visitation.

In a nut shell, they reminded of the way back to God. For the first time in 2 decades, I remembered my creator. I then started climbing the ladder I fell from years ago. For another 36 years I remained in prison, I heard of my parent’s death from there.

Now I have been released by the government. 81 years old man …Haha. What is my worth now?

If you think you are standing, be careful that you do not fall. I fell, but glory to God, I rose again …But of what use is that at 81 with one weak leg…  For years, Satan gradually isolated me from God just like the little boy. He cunningly enticed me daily, farther and farther away from my sit in the almighty’s refuge until he finally snatched me; he killed my dreams and threw me in prison.

Please, beware of him, when He starts isolating you. He knows he cannot slaughter you in the secret place of Most High, so he stays out like the stranger showing things that will pull you out. Things you love. He cuts off your power, you start seeing no reason to go to church, to pray, to study the word, to evangelize. You become too busy. At times it takes months to get isolated, sometimes days, most times years. It’s a gradual process. Finally, when he sees you have been drained of your power and authority, with a smirk, he slaughters!

We are not ignorant of Lucifer’s devices. You reading this, will you take out few moments and talk to God, ask Him to help your heart, so you will not get isolated from His protection, so you can sit with Him and make exploits with Him. Amen