Authors, Writers, Publishers, and Book Readers

Saved By His Grace

“I have experienced a loss that is devastating to me. It will take time, perhaps years, for me to work through the grief I am having because of this loss. I will cry more than usual for some time. My tears are not a sign of weakness or a lack of hope or faith. They are the symbols of the depth of my loss and the sign that I am recovering. I may become angry without there seeming to be a reason for it. My emotions are all heightened by the stress of the grief. Please be forgiving if I seem irrational at times. I need your understanding and your presence more than anything else. If you don’t know what to say, just touch me or give me a hug to let me know you care. Please don’t wait for me to call you. I am often too tired to even think of reaching out for help I need. Don’t allow me to withdraw from you. I need you more than ever during the next year. Pray for me only if your prayer is not an order for me to make you feel better. My faith is not an excuse from the process of grief. If you, by chance, have had an experience of loss that seems anything like mine, please share it with me. You will not make me feel worse. This loss is the worst thing that could happen to me. But, I will get through it and I will live again. I will not always feel as I do now. I will laugh again. Thank you for caring about me. Your concern is a gift I will always treasure.” Anon.

This is a plea from someone who I presume was in great grief and distress just like Ola, who went through hell twice within four hours and came out with a bloodcurdling scar on his head. The ordeal that took Ola through hell was a terrible auto crash resulting from an onslaught from men of the underworld; dare devil armed robbers along an endemic expressway between the southwestern cities of Lagos and Ibadan in Nigeria.

His grief was more than he could possibly bear but he through his faith and hope in his God and courage as a strong and brave man bore it all and survived two deaths after being abandoned to die. He went through the refiner’s fire and came out a victor, he did not fail his God nor did he fail his fiancée who was waiting for the wedding day. He proved himself a man of his words and never faltered.

Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith. Henry Ward Beecher

According to the bible book of 1Corinthians 10:13; ‘No temptation has seized one except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let one be tempted beyond what one can bear. But when one are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that one can stand up under it.’ He did not lose anything but gained much more than one can possibly imagine.

Allophones Karr once said ‘Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns. I am thankful that thorns have roses.’ Karr understood the glory in difficulties and it was the same glory that Ola got after the difficulties. He became a better Christian and minister of God, he became a better counselor and mentor just because he had the experience.

Ola doesn’t need to preach any sermon to any one in trouble, all he needs is to tell you his stories and there’s no way you will not be converted or satisfied.

Life's problems wouldn't be called `hurdles’ if there wasn't a way to get over them. Anon. Robert Schuller said ‘Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines.’ Ola’s ordeal was as a lesson and guideline to him and to the whole world that anything and everything is possible. He believed that there is always a way around any mountain. He believed that the test wasn’t to consume him but to glorify him.

‘The first and most important step toward success is the feeling that we can succeed.’ Said Nelson Boswell.

Ola believed that he will make it and he did; amidst pessimistic neighbors. You will now understand that there is a God somewhere who saves people from total obliteration and demise.