Appreciating the value of life

A man lived with his family  in a very poor and wretched hut, no matter how hard this man tried to make a good income, things never seemed to go perfectly , he always asked God why things were like that, but he never seemed to get an answer , things went on like this for some time and the man began to get frustrated, so one day he went to the river to try and get some fish for breakfast for  his family , so he cranked his boat’s engine and started sailing towards the center of the river , where there were bigger fishes, on getting to the center he noticed the place was way to silent so he decided to throw his fishing net into the water and wait for something to happen, he waited and waited for hours without any catch, he eventually fell asleep and the next time he woke up , he found himself  soaked and covered with sand in a strange place.

His boat had capsized and the waves from the water had washed him away into a strange island, he immediately stood up and started shouting, kicking the air, throwing rocks with so much rage, he was so angry with what had happened, he knew this was just the beginning of his problem ,it got so bad that he even started asking God questions like ‘why have you forsaken me ‘ , do you want my family to die’, haven’t I served you enough,  he was so enraged that he fell to the ground and started hitting his head, he was tired of living but he didn’t want to leave his family alone so he stood up and started walking around trying to look for a way out of the island on his way he noticed a bubbling sound around  and  was able to trace the sound to a nearby water gathering and  found his fishing net  stuck to a tree branch and in the net were lots of fishes trying to find their way out, but instead of thanking God , the man started complaining again saying that ‘’now I’ve gotten fish for my family, but how do I get it to them , ‘’you want me to die in a place where I know not anybody’’ after series of complaints he was able to pull the fishes out of the water and dragged them to a nearby shade under a tree, he also managed to start up a fire and roasted some of the fish, after the meal , he rested his back on the tree and eventually slept of, but this time he woke up in his worst nightmare.

The next time he opened his eyes, he found himself in front of a big gate with two angels standing side by side, one was with a mighty book and on its back was written ‘BOOK OF LIFE ‘before I could utter a word the book was opened, the angel asked for my name and he began to search the mighty book, seconds later he started stating all the things I had done in my life down to the moment where I slept off. The angel then closed the book and immediately pointed towards a dark and scary looking gate and said hell is where you belong at that moment a hefty man in black appeared and started dragging me towards the gate , I showed so much restraint but the man kept on pulling me like a piece of paper, at this moment I started crying and asking the angel why, I cried and cried with all my strength but nothing changed so I got angry and started shouting saying ‘’haven’t I worked in your vineyard’’ ‘’haven’t I paid all my offerings and tithes’’ ‘’haven’t I praised your name’’ ‘’ haven’t I done the evangelism you asked me to do’’ what else do you want  I worked for you but you gave me nothing, I lived my life for you but you gave me nothing, what did I ever do wrong. At that moment the angel stood and started asking me questions, he asked:

·         How many days did you go to sleep without anything in your stomach?

·         How many times did you have to source for money for hospital bills or medications?

·         How many times have you have you refilled the oxygen you breathe?

·         The peace and joy you enjoy, how much have you really paid for them?

·         The life you have, how many times have you come to pay bills for it?

·         And finally he asked , the mouth you use to complain so much , how many times have you used it to say ‘’THANK YOU LORD’’ ?

·       At that moment I broke down because I just started realizing that life didn’t really have to be all luxurious for one to enjoy it , I screamed with all my heart saying father have mercy on me, I thank you for everything you’ve done both seen and unseen.

And within a flash everything waved back to the beginning of that day, when I woke up that morning. On opening my eyes and seeing my family, I laid down and started thanking God for the gift of life itself that alone was enough. Later that evening I narrated the story to my whole family and once again we knelt down together and praised God.

LESS0N: life may not be as luxurious as we want it to be, but always bear in mind that God is not a wicked God, he will never put you in a situation that you can’t handle, he will never leave nor forsake you, he that created us know us perfectly well and knows how to maintain us, so just apply hard work in whatever you’re are doing and things will eventually work out.