When the devil could not dampen my spirit or wane my express faith in God almighty, who called me to service in the first place,the deadly COVID-19 struck me in 2020.
It was a warm Saturday evening, at Umuobiakwa, I was sitting precisely on the southern balcony of my house, when the news of the deteriorating health of my bosom friend Dr. Solomon Ogunji reached me, I quickly dispatched a team of medical people to his house to move him to ABSUTH or any other facility where he will receive adequate medical attention. The outcome remains an unfortunate chapter in my experience as Governor.
However, the following day, I took ill in what looked like the usual malaria, and all efforts to resolve it, using the regular anti-malaria drugs failed. By the 2nd day, I was compelled to take COVID-19 test which result returned negative from one of the reference labs inside Aba.
While we heaved a sigh of relief, as the doctors concentrated on the treatment of malaria, little did we know that it was a false result designed by the devil to give room for COVID-19 to undermine my lungs and devastate my kidneys. Assuming the result came out positive, my doctors would have nipped the COVID in the bud. Within 7 days I was already on dialysis and I had consumed over 4 bottles of oxygen.
By the time I arrived the hospital in Abuja I was depending on oxygen!
For the next 8 weeks the doctors battled to resuscitate my dying kidneys. Incidentally it was my nephrologists that advised me to pray to God to bless the medications I was taken. This ignited my dependence in the Holy Spirit. I literally gave up hope in life and prepared a closure with profound gratitude to God whom I regarded as the lover of my soul, the Author and Finisher of my faith. I was grateful for the opportunities and privilege to serve. I concluded with the realization that the opportunity to serve is even a privilege and not a right.
In any case, even if I was called home in 2020, I was going to depart with a heart full of gratitude to God. The essence of life is God, and Gods will is always the best for me. This has defined my world outlook to life.
The rest now is pleasant history, as my kidneys recovered fully down from 9%, meaning that 91% was not functioning. I also recovered of a better health with capacity to resume this tedious job, combining it with some skeletal academic work at ABSU as well as Stewardship as a serving elder in my local Church. In addition I still do my 2 hours routine physical exercise everyday since I left hospital.
When I visited my physician in Texas in 2021, he confessed truly that my recovery was a miracle!! This is so real to me because, I have only had headache just once in nearly 2 years.
Lessons:
In all of these, I have just discovered a new glorious path in my journey with my Redeemer. This new path is ruled by a few principles some of which I will be sharing here:
1.You must put God and Gods work first. Your services in the things of God provides the needed impetus to tackle the most tedious secular assignments. Deut 6:4 Matt 6:33.
2. Try to reflect the image of God in all that you do in your work place. In order words, strive to be a mobile gospel in your life style, utterance and dispositions. Col 3:9-10.
3.Strive to always do the right things even when no one is watching you, it defines your respect and fear for God. It also reflects your understanding of the Omnipresent nature of God. Jer. 17:10.
4.Strive to eschew haughtiness and pride since all that you own (intellectually and materially) come from God. Also know that every soul you encounter in the course of your work, no matter how seemingly lowly, is special in the eyes of God and deserves respect and honour,it is not a sign of weakness but the fear of God. James 4:6.
5.You must have no other God beside God almighty. A man who, despite youthful exuberance was able to achieve a Doctorate Degree in Bio-Chemistry at age 29; who was subsequently picked from no where and installed a Governor in 2015 by God; Who was guided through 13 Court cases and reaffirmed 3 times by the Supreme Court as Governor; a man who God had honoured all his supplications and delivered from deadly sickness in a miraculous way has no reason, whatsoever, to worship any other entity except the God of Shedrack Mishack and Abednego. Many indeed are the afflictions of the righteous but God delivers him from them all (emphasis mine). Ps 34:19 .
I therefore recommend this unfailing God to all of us because I have tested and found that God is good Ps 34:8. The only way you can demonstrate that you love God is to keep the commandments and be of service to God and to humanity. Incidentally, you are not given a choice on this matter. The requirement is simple, if you love me, keep my commandments! John 14:15.
Finally, I have come to realize that walking with the lord and striving to do his will does not guarantee a smooth sail Matt 8:24 -27.
The tempest can rage, even with “Christ in the boat,” but be rest assured that our master is the master of all elements, and with him by your side, it will always end in praise.
Mind you, the praise of men can be tainted and deceitfully, but be that workman whose stewardship can be approved by the Master Himself… the one and only Righteous judge.
Elder Kennedy Onyenma is a public affairs commentator.
