#SpreadTheGospel

Children of God,

How are you doing? What’s going on with you? 🙂

How many of you have experienced a fire drill before? The fire alarm sets off and you have to evacuate the building in the manner in which the safety guidelines stipulate?

• Always take the stairs and never the elevator.
• Use the emergency exits.

Drawing from the anecdote above, God has given us the safety guidelines through and in His Word. He’s provided all protocols to follow in case of a fire and has shown us where all the emergency exits are – figuratively speaking. The next thing He does to ensure that we have understood His ‘protocols’ is to set the place on fire, not a fire drill, the actual fire.

When reading the Bible, Biblical characters and what they went through may sound far fetched until it’s time to engage the ‘safety guidelines’ in your own scenario.

When Jesus tells us to forgive someone seventy times seven, He will bring someone our way whose actions or words will make us want to punch them in the throat but that’s when God expects us to forgive, turn the other cheek and not repay evil with evil. The flesh would be tempted to have an eye for an eye but remember, in case of a fire, never take the elevator, use the emergency exits provided.

This year started with hope and promise and I choose to maintain the hope and promise. God gave His servants a dream, a vision, a promise along with the ‘safety protocols’ to follow and thereafter, He set the place ablaze, looking to see whether His children will put into action what He had taught them.

Abram was promised a son from his loins but the fire that awaited him was the never-ending, anxiety-inducing wait that lasted a quarter of a century. What was Abram to do in his fire? He was to keep his faith and thereafter, it was accounted to him as righteousness.

Joseph was given a dream, two dreams at that, where God showed him that he would be a great man and his family would bow to him. Right after the dream, the fire started – his brothers sold him to slavery, we was falsely accused of attempted rape and eventually thrown into prison. What were the safety guidelines that Joseph was to observe? He was to obey the Lord regardless of his prevailing circumstances. We see that wherever Joseph was found, God’s favour was upon him, in Potiphar’s house and even in prison, God’s favour on Joseph was evident to Potiphar and the prison warden respectively. Having endured the fire, his promotion was ready him; from the dungeons of prison to the second in command in the kingdom.

The current plot twists in my life had me drenching my pillows with tears every so often and more frequently that I’d desire. The Holy Spirit had to continuously encourage me to use the emergency exits. One of the ‘safety guideline’ I’m to follow is to give thanks in all circumstances, praise the Lord in the storm and when all may seem obscure, to put my trust in The One who not only knows the way but is The Way.

When the year started, I gave Curado some of the short-term milestones that I wanted to achieve in the first two weeks of January and she asked me, “Whose timelines are you working with? God’s or yours?” That hit me hard. Being in the fire is never easy. I see why Sarah opted to have Ishmael, because the wait can be and often is, grueling. However, those of us who are conversant with the Word of God, know that having an ‘Ishmael’ is never a good idea.

It is better to endure the fire when in God’s will than seek reprieve in the ways of the world. In the Book of Daniel; Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego told King Nebuchadnezzar that they would rather be thrown into the fire (literally) than to bow down to the statue he erected. So convicted were they in their belief and trust in God, that they would rather be burned alive than bow to a foreign god. Did they have an easy way out? Yes. They could’ve bowed for sake of it but they remembered, never use the escalator in case of a fire.

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. ¹⁷ If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. ¹⁸ But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”

Daniel 3:16-28 NKJV

19th January 2026

I woke up with a heavy heart. I was sad and despondent, having gone through yet another plot twist that left me in tears —again.😔 I cried out to the Lord. I wrote a letter to God and He responded by telling me to give thanks. He listened to my cry and He soothed me with His Word. The fire is not meant to burn, but to purify. Our works will be tested through fire and the works that withstand the fire, will be purified.

The Word of God reminds me that as His child, I should not worry about what to eat or drink – it’s already taken care of. I need to put this into practice.

²⁵ “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? ²⁸ “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; ²⁹ and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not ^[l]arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹ “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Matthew 6:25-35 NKJV

24th January 2026

I’d gone to church for choir practice when I started feeling dizzy and woozy. I then got extremely nauseous and I puked twice. I decided to go to the pharmacy and next thing I know, I came to in the Emergency Room.

My church mates showed up in droves to come see me and the whole room was full of people praying for me and speaking healing over me.

Curado, who was from chemo herself HOURS PRIOR, came to see me along with her whole family!!!! I was so touched!😭

That afternoon, I received an email from Ant, which I only got to read three days later because of the condition I was in while at the hospital. He was expressing his distress in failing to reach me despite several attempts. By and large, he was asking me whether we were on yet another goodbye spree 🤭 and if not, then he would like to speak with me. I was touched by his email. What a man. Why does he have to email me, you wonder. Folks, there are things that won’t make sense to you now, but they will later. Y’all stop looking at me sideways 🤭, Jesus told us the same thing 🤷🏽‍♀️😁.

“Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.””

‭‭John‬ ‭13‬:‭7‬ ‭BSB‬‬

Ant is an interesting human being whose purpose in my life I still do not know 😅🤔. For people who don’t speak often, I’m amazed by how this extremely weird friendship keeps progressing. We’ve said goodbye to each other several times but some way, somehow, the hinges remain miraculously greased and screwed in place. We could spend weeks and possibly months without speaking with each other but whenever we meet or speak again, there’s not a single beat that will be missed.

Last year, we met in Senegal and though he was upset with me, he was visibly happy to see me and he expressed it so himself. I enjoy his company more than I would like to admit to myself and many a times, we end up being up to no good and I mean, no good (for the Gospel🤭). No wonder we’re in different countries! 😅😂We have our internal jokes and code names for people, things and instances. It’s always a jolly good time with Ant whether in word or in deed.

He has moments when he’s so upset with me that he (unknowingly) makes a certain face that tickles me, then I end up taunting him about it🤭😁, much to his chagrin. I’m like a little child around him and he, like a father wrapped around his daughter’s finger. He seldom tells me no and when he does, he’ll note how withdrawn I get and he’ll eventually say yes. Does that remind me of my (earthly) father? It absolutely does…. just before I get upset at Ant again.

One of the ‘emergency exits’ when a fire occurs, is to give thanks! When the doctor was putting the cannula in, was it painful? Yes, but they got the vein on the first try – Yay! Did I think that I’d be hospitalized? No. But… the doctors and nurses were sweet to me and I suspect one of the male nurses had a crush on me…☺️. You can’t blame him though, no one can; the fragrance of Christ is alluring you know 😌.

My sister discharged me and took me to her place where my sweet babies were waiting for me 🥰. They were so happy to see me and the concern on their faces was telling. My nephew gave me a bar of chocolate and my niece told her friends that her Aunty was sick. Kids are so precious♥️. My babies are growing up faster than I would like but I appreciate the evolution of our relationship now that they’re no longer toddlers😭. I had missed them terribly and perhaps my being at my sister’s place is to make up for the time we were apart during the festive holidays.

God tells us that in all situations, we should give thanks. I repeat, give thanks.

in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV

I will praise Him in the fire. I will thank Him for the plot twists.

I had expectations for the month of January that ALL came tumbling down but you know what? I’m more than victorious!

I’m writing this article from the bed, with part of my left wrist looking purple from the after effects of having the cannula in but … I’m writing nonetheless😌.

Paul wrote in chains.

“This greeting is in my own hand—Paul. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.”

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭4‬:‭18‬ ‭BSB‬‬

Where are you reading this from? Are you in the fire? Worry not, remember to follow the safety guidelines. This is not a drill.

If you’re not born again yet, the first step to safety is to repeat the prayer below out loud….

Dear Lord,

Thank You for dying on the cross for me. I believe in my heart that you died and rose again and I confess with my mouth that You are Lord and Saviour in my heart and in my life. I denounce my former ways and choose to be Your child. Thank You for setting me free. I am now born again.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen

In his track, You Can’t Stop Me, Andy Mineo raps, “My God’s good, but He’s not safe, nah” and I wondered what personally led to him to that revelation. In my previous article, I wrote and I quote, “Can you imagine that the safest yet most ‘dangerous’ place we can be, is in the will of God? Chilling, right?”. I think God has shown Andy and I things😅😂 for two people who don’t know each other to have said similar things😂😂😂.

That said, go through your safety guidelines regularly (read the Bible) and do not panic in case of a fire (have faith).

God loves you immensely.

XO,

That Lady