Daniel happened to be extroverted. His personality was so awesome that people easily find themselves attached to him. His dental always sparkled when amongst everyone. He smiled so much it was contagious. He'd often make jokes and have his audience roaring with laughter. Daniel as an usher in his church was the best at it. Never for once has he led someone to sit in church, and they wouldn’t follow. His heart-warming smile showing all of his 32 seemed magnetic. Immediately he sees someone come in, he'd broaden his smile and beckon on the person to go with him, and no matter how hard the person's face looks, they'd follow.
Daniel wasn't just good at smiling and making people laugh. He was a diligent minister of God. Who served God in his youth and was humble in all doings. His personality drew people to him, believers and unbelievers. He was everyone's amigos. As charming as he was, he had a special relationship with some sets of individuals. Most were believers, with which he discussed things about the scriptures and regarding the things of the Spirit. They had times they prayed, times they would share the word of God, and moments they go out on outreaches. To him, it was a supernatural relationship, and he kept them well.
But he also had his natural relationships. Friends he discussed natural stuff with, like career, business, money, and things related. He made sure he made friends with those whose knowledge was vast in these matters. And as a result, he was able to make lots of investments and make good money and career moves. He made sure to separate his spiritual life from his career. He believed having believing friends meant they only had to do things spiritual together, and nothing more. He made sure to put a barricade between his spiritual friends and natural friends.
He missed it at some point. He started paying more attention to his natural growth, far more than his spiritual growth. He'd often miss Bible study meetings with his friends, including outreaches, all in the name of he is busy. He made sure to be consistent with the prayer meeting because he felt it was more important than other spiritual activities. He was missing more and more group meetings. Therefore, he couldn't usher on some service days. On days he'd make it for meetings, he'd come late for service itself. When confronted, he'd often reply that it was necessary to work, the work of the Lord needs financial help, and he is working hard to contribute to that work.
Meanwhile, he was working because he wanted to own the best things in life. He wanted to travel out, go on vacations, and just as his natural friends called it, he wanted to enjoy life. He had paid so much attention to them and let them get into his head that the first thing he did in the morning was to communicate with his business associates. He was beginning to forget what mattered most, his fellowship with God. He only prayed when he needed a business deal to click, and that was after he had tried all of his human power, and it looked like it wasn't going to work. Those who cared tried reaching out to him to explain how he was losing his sight of God.
As time rolled by, his beautiful personality started fading away. His face was beginning to get bland. His attendance in the church fell drastically. All attempts to bring him back by the church failed. But there was something his friends never stopped doing for him, praying! They never gave up on praying as he stopped picking calls and communicating with them altogether. His natural friends were more important to him as his business kept booming and was making it big.
His dreams of traveling the world were starting to fall in place. He had gone on a trip to South Africa for a two-week vacation with his friends who taught they should have some fun. It was a beautiful experience he wanted to relive. It gave him that abroad feeling. If he could have that much fun in an African country, he's going to be blown away when he eventually travels overseas. That dream came to life in some months' time. It was everything he ever wanted. He wasn’t going for a vacation though. He was going to have a business meeting with his partners who requested that they meet in person. All he needed to do was travel. They had everything prepared for him over there. Even a ride to pick him from the airport to his hotel. It was scheduled to be a week-long meeting. He had planned two weeks for himself. He wasn't just going to leave the country without touring.
He got to the airport beaming with a smile wider than his face. He got on the plane, and that was the most majestic feeling he ever had. He sat beside a certain man who had his head buried in books all through. He read the Bible first for a couple of hours, prayed thereafter, and continued with a spiritual book "How You Can Be Led By The Spirit Of God" by Kenneth E. Hagin. Daniel couldn't help staring at the man. All he had done on the plane was take pictures, upload on social media, eat everything he had been offered and sleep. These he did while the man was still reading. He had only requested water, and he looked like he was in his 50s. The man was aware that his seat partner's eyes were all over him and he'd often look up at him, and Daniel would immediately look away, but he wasn't fast at the time as their eyes would lock. But no one said anything.
4 hours into the flight, Daniel was just waking from 5th nap and opening his eyes, he saw the man staring at him. He jerked.
“Sorry, did I scare you?”
Daniel was mute but was staring at the man, and his eyes looked like they were going to jump out of their sockets.
"I noticed your eyes were all over me while I was reading, so I decided to stare at you while you sleep," he flashed his teeth thereafter.
Daniel thought it was creepy. He stared so intently his eyes hurt.
"Okay, I'm sorry. I didn't watch you sleep. But I was waiting for you to wake up. I guessed you either want to ask questions or you want to have a conversation. The way you wouldn't stop looking at me, I perceive you have some things bothering you. You can talk to me. I'm taking a 30 minutes break from reading," he checked his watch, "We have about twenty minutes more".
“Who said I want to talk to you?”
“Your eyes”
“My eyes…?”
“Look, if you don’t want to talk, it’s alright. I might have misunderstood your staring at me, or you weren’t staring. But I wouldn’t appreciate it if you keep looking at me while I’m reading. It makes me uncomfortable”
The man leaned back on his chair and wore his sleep mask to take a short nap.
Daniel sat up. He could feel the words in his throat. It was either he presents his speech now or he might never get a chance to speak with the man. He felt the words in his throat begging to be let out.
"Are you a Christian, sir?"
The man took off his sleep mask. “What?”
"I asked if you are a Christian, sir"
“I heard you the first time. I’m just baffled. You saw me reading the Bible, right?"
Daniel all of a sudden felt comfortable, and he adjusted himself to have a better view of the man.
"Well, you could be an atheist. And you’re just reading the Bible so you can find something to argue about”
“But I prayed,” the man looked genuinely confused.
“You’re good at praying quietly so I couldn’t tell if you were praying to the true God”
The man let out a small laugh, "I guess you also thought I was also reading Kenneth Hagin's book to find something to counter, right?"
“Most probably”
“Frankly speaking, that wasn’t what I was expecting. I thought you were going to say something like I look familiar or something. Though I expected questions on why I’m reading the Bible on a plane, but not the way you asked. I…”
“Yes, and that too. You look familiar”
“I’m Frank Edafe, founder of ireels consult”
Daniel’s mouth dropped in wonder. He’s been sitting beside the man who had the biggest telecommunication company in Africa.
“Sir…” was all he could mutter.
The man smiled, “and you are?”
“D… D... Daniel. Daniel Peters ss... Sir”
“Nice meeting you Daniel"
He was still dumbstruck. This is one man he and his friends had always talked about and is a role model to them. He had written over 15 business books and they had read 10 of his books. It was a pact they made amongst themselves. They practically made him their god when it came to business. They had watched all of his videos they could lay hands on on the net where he attended business meetings and gave speeches. They were especially interested in him because he made it at 22, without being born with a silver spoon and without any form of connects whatsoever, he made his way to the top. He was a major force that pulled them to the success line and they hoped to meet him one day. They were able to secure a meeting with him one time, but unfortunately, he couldn’t meet with them. They were so disappointed that as they received the call while on their way to his office, they didn’t say a word to each other as they turned the car and went back to their places of abode.
These scenarios and more when he and his friends always discussed him were playing in his head. He wondered how he didn’t notice the man since.
“Are you there?” the man asked waving across Daniel’s face as he jerked back to reality with a gasp.
“Sir, you’ve been a huge motivation to my friends and I. We’ve read most of your books and watched all your videos we could find. We were supposed to meet some months back but you couldn’t make it again”
"Oh, it was you guys, I'm sorry. I'd have gotten back to you but I didn't recollect I had a meeting when I got back. It was my daughters' matriculation at Harvard and it had skipped my mind, all thanks to her mother who is so patient and understanding. She was the one who reminded me. I don't joke with my family so I had to cancel. But if you guys can reach out to my secretary again, I believe we could set up another meeting. But most importantly, I don't joke with my relationship with God"
Daniel gave a little frown, "I thought you merely talked about God whenever you give speeches. We didn't believe you have time for God, I mean, seeing how big a businessman you are, we're talking about a business that spans across Africa here"
Mr. Frank smiled, “I get that a lot. I don’t see why it is hard for people to believe you can be comfortably rich, and your relationship with God would be intact as well”
Daniel's eyeballs popped out again, "Comfortably rich??? Sir, if you say you're comfortably rich, then I must be a poor wretched young guy. I just started making my millions and I thought I had arrived. But here is a man who is amongst Forbes list of 100 richest businessmen in Africa calling himself comfortably rich, you recently moved to number 42 from number 50 a couple of months ago”
Mr. Frank was taken aback and genuinely surprised, "I'm wowed. You guys did your findings uhn? Even I don’t know what number I fall in”
Daniel could only stare in wonder and he shook his head and said, “You bet we did”
“You know, the fact that the world thinks we have money doesn’t mean we are going to stop working because if we did, the money would stop rolling in. But I’m sure it's not how I made it you're after. You're more interested in what I'm doing right now. Since you accused me, let me also ask? Are you an atheist?”
“No” he chuckled.
“That’s good to hear. Your name gave you away though. Do you have a relationship with God?”
Daniel hesitated, shrugged his shoulders, and replied, "I guess"
“You guess?”
“I mean, I pray once in a while, I read my Bible when I get the time, and I attended church……” he was trying very hard to remember when.
Mr. Frank shook his head.
"I got to where I was today when I found God. I didn't plan to be one of the richest businessmen. Don't get me wrong. I wanted to be comfortably rich. Hence my use of the word. I say it not because I'm trying to be humble, but because I don't want the money getting into my head. Money has a destructive spirit. When you start having more than enough, and you can afford anything you want and still have leftovers to chop life as you guys call it, if you're not careful, something else that's not God creeps in. You start seeing the need to set God aside because you have no more prayer points. It's especially bad when that's all you go to church for. When you get it, you elope with your money. That's the mistake most so-called believers make. They put their needs before their fellowship with God. It's not just in the area of money. Some need life partners, but they don't know God personally and expect God to give them God-fearing partners. When he knows he can't trust you with them, he can't give you. Some needs scholarship, but they don't get it, not because God is bad. But he wants them to be close to him so when they finally get what they want, they'd not forget him" he paused to sip water and continued, but not after studying Daniel's countenance, thereby making sure he was driving his point home.
But he seemed impatient. He couldn’t wait for Mr. Frank to continue.
“I didn’t want to have too much money because I felt excess money drags people away from God. Solomon for example, the Bible says no one has ever amounted to Solomon's wealth before he lived and after he lived. I didn't want to be like him. But my pastor told me that I can be almost as rich as Solomon and not miss it with God. I just need to follow the sequence in Matt 6:33. Do you have a Bible app on your phone?”
Daniel looked like he was given vinegar to drink. He looked down at his feet as he remembered what he did to the Bible app he had. He deleted it to download a gaming app they said was good for the brain, a game that'd increase your IQ. He didn't have the space for the app, and as he scanned his phone, he discovered his other apps were too important to be uninstalled, and he decided the Bible app had to go since he had a hard copy Bible which he hadn't opened in months. He had the softcopy Bible because he could read it while on transit. Seeing the app made him read it once in a while, but since he uninstalled the app, he didn't have access to reading the Bible anymore.
"I understand," Mr. Frank said as he brought out his Bible, gave it to Daniel to open and read.
“But seek ye…”
“No, start from 32. It should be from verse 25 but I have a schedule I’m running with so let’s just take it from 32. I still have to pray for one more hour before we get to London."
Daniel looked at him like he was suspecting something.
“Read”
“(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things… But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you… Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil therefore”
"It's not the first time you'll hear someone quote that scripture. But have you paid attention to it? Most especially the seek ye first part. Seeking God should come first before any other thing. F-I-R-S-T! Even after getting what you want, still, put Him first. I work 24 hours, 7 days a week. The fact that I have people looking after my business all over the continent doesn’t mean I can then sit down to rest. Because if I do, they’ll ruin me. But I am never too busy to pray, if I am not chanced to sit to study, I listen to audio Bible. My air pods always in my ears are not just for calls. Sometimes, I'm listening to an audio from an e-book. Like the one I was reading. In whatever I do, I make sure I don't lose my communication with him. I don't see myself not being consistent with these things. I confess it every morning asides from my business confession. You must have missed that part in my speeches. I never forget to mention it"
For the first time after months, Daniel paid attention to the vacuum he had always felt. He was happy he was making it. But deep down somewhere, he knew he was missing something. But he hadn’t created the time to search for what it was. He was deep in thought when he heard Mr. Frank continue.
"I thought Paul when talking to me when he told Timothy in 2nd Timothy 6:6-11 that ‘Bug godliness with contentment is great gain… For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out… And having food and raiment, let us be therewith content… But they that will be rich fall into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition… For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows… But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness”
Daniel coiled in his chair like a child that had just been scolded, his eyes were teary.
"You're a fine young man. You have a bright future ahead of you, and I know you know that. It's too early for you to lose God. It's too early to stray away. I wanted to stand out as one of the believers who don't lose it after making money. That's what others believe. They believe a Christian shouldn't make money because it pulls them away from God. You can have money, make it big, and still be with God. Just do not let the love of money consume you. And even in your hustle for money, don’t forget to always put God first. He is more interested in your heart and your fellowship with him than how much you make. No one is saying money is not to be made. Make it, plenty of it. But don't, D-O-N-O-T be too entangled in your search for it that you neglect the Lord your God".
Daniel was sobbing like a baby at this point.
***
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