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PASTOR MICHAEL O. AFOLAYAN

2016 CODE OF BLESSINGS MESSAGES

 

 

 

 January 2016
 
 

My Father, The Driver, Knows I am Aboard – Your Code of Blessings

Michael O. Afolayan

Springfield, IL USA

 

 

Read: Mark 6: 49-51; Isaiah 43: 1-2; 15-19; 55:12-13

 

As a first year high school student (equivalent to 7th grade in American education system), I had the privilege of joining a group of my peers on a field trip to the local dam famous for its unique spillway construction. Our elderly Agric and General Science teacher at Baptist High School, Shaki, who was an ardent Baptist deacon, led us on this trip. The Oge Dam was located in the bottom of a range of hills, also known as Oge Hills. The Israeli-constructed dam itself was a marvel, being the first of its type in Africa and only the fifth in the whole world. To tour the dam was great but getting in and out of the area was something else. For drivers, this was a dreaded terrain.  Many vehicles were known to roll and tumble, causing casualties and untold mayhems. On the fateful day of our tour, we had fun learning the science of hydrology, geography, history and much more. On our way back home, however, something happened. Our vehicle, which was operating in less than full engine capacity in the first instance, hardly reached halfway into the peak of the hill when the high gear seemed to lose much of its power, literally dragging itself, and stalling. It was a big scare. The driver was pressing the gas pedal, and changing gears high-low-low-high but much of what was coming out was the huge blanket of smoke that demonstrated a “Code Blue” for the engine transmission. Rather than be scared, our elderly teacher, who was sitting in front with the driver, turned around to us in the back and raised a song in Yoruba, “My Father Is The Driver Who Is Driving His Own Vehicle, And He Knows That I am Aboard!”  It would be the first but not the last time I would hear that beautiful song. Many in the vehicle knew it and started singing. As if the mechanical elements understood the message of the song, the dying transmission and the engine slowly engaged again, the vehicle picked up the speed, and soon our vehicle took off as if on eagle’s wings over the dreaded hill, driving us into our safe harbor. . . Phew!

 

Isn’t that something? Let’s fast-forward almost half a century later: The year 2015 had proven to be a tough one in terms of worldwide violence, terrorism, civil wars, natural and man-made catastrophes, and all sorts of social and political instabilities. There were personal losses, corporate bankruptcies, and worldwide economic crises. The political terrain was rough and difficult to scale through. We witnessed religious violence and incessant terrorisms. The cold war between the East and the West, which seemed to have died a natural death in the early 1990s, seemed to resurrect its ugly head even with deadlier propensities. I am not a prophet of doom, but if the trend holds, 2016 may not be different; indeed, it could even be worse. However, the Lord has taught us that for His own children, safety is not the absence of danger but it is the assurance that even when a child of God passes through the valley of the shadow of death, s/he should fear no evil because the Almighty Father is with him or her.  The Lord Jesus Christ said to His disciples, “It is I, be not afraid.”

 

My prophetic prayer for you as you step into this first day of 2016 is in the prophetic declaration of the Prophet Isaiah in 43: 1-2, “But now, thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. . .   I am the Lord, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King. Thus saith the Lord, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow. Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. . . For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.  Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” Go forth and conquer in the New Year. Navigate the world that the Almighty has given you, and regardless of the terrain you have to climb in order to reach your blissful destination, remember, your Father, the Driver, knows you are aboard. May 2016 be for you a “Magna Anno Messem” (the Great Year of Harvest); may your anchor hold in the storms of life; and may this be your Code of Blessings for the new month, and the brand New Year!

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MAY, 2016

 

Please Have A Nice Day - With A Random Act of Kindness

Michael O. Afolayan

Springfield, Illinois, USA

 

 

Suggested Reading: Luke 10: 25-37

 

I left home early in the morning, to drive my niece to school. She is a graduate student of Public Health at the University of Illinois, Springfield. She just came new from Nigeria but must hit the ground running with activities on campus. I had warned her to be sure to make breakfast for herself immediately after the family prayers every morning before heading for school, as any day could prove to be a long one, and for someone new, it might be hectic to face the day without a full stomach. This morning, she could not make it early enough to have breakfast but we must go. On the way, it occurred to me that I could just do a quick drive-through at McDonald’s and get her some breakfast. At first I hesitated doing so because I thought I only had a few dollars in my pocket and might need them for myself later in the day. However, something told me to go ahead and get her the breakfast. And so without further hesitation, I drove to McDonald’s and placed an order at the drive-through. When I got to the window to pay, the cashier waved at me, smiled and said, “Have a nice day.” I did not understand what she meant, and so I said, “excuse me?” She said again, “Have a nice day. The person who just drove ahead of you had left an instruction that anyone who came immediately after him, regardless of how much food he or she purchased, I should not take anything from the person, instead their bill should be charged to this individual’s account; he said I should just tell the person, ‘have a nice day!’” Neither my niece nor I could believe it. All we could say was, “Wow!!!”

 

I think I may have heard stories of random acts of kindness in the past, but I never experienced it in such an audacious and empirical way! I had no idea who that person was – s/he could have been a Christian, an unbeliever, an angel, a weirdo, an atheist or what have you; and he or she probably had no idea who I was. I could have been male, female, black, white, yellow, green, gay, straight or even an ardent criminal. S/he did not care; all that mattered to this person was to just perform a random act of kindness. And the Lord will certainly reward him/her for doing this because the Lord Himself had declared that anyone who gives a cup of water to any of His own shall receive a prophet’s reward. Rather than those random acts of violence, maybe our world would be a better place with some random acts of kindness. We may not even need to quote a single verse from the scripture before we truly show the world who our Lord truly is. It’s the Gospel According to YOU. Please have a nice day!

Copyright 2015 PWP3 No Animals were harmed in the making.

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