Episode 2: The Process
While he prayed, he also performed his duties with diligence, always making sure to do his best with whatever task he was given. Initially, his uncle did not want to give him any money but later on due to Dennis’ diligence and with the significant change in his children and the general environment at home, he started giving Dennis a monthly allowance. The wife and children started drawing closer to Dennis as they saw how calm, respective, and diligent he was. They also noticed how he read his Bible consistently and found him praying whenever he had a bit of time.
As if Dennis had stayed in the US for over 10 years, he became their go-to person for any homework, anything they were confused about or wanted an answer to. How Dennis was able to provide that level of insight, nobody knew but they were very pleased with him. Dennis on the other hand, knew that this could only be by the grace of God and his relationship with the Holy Spirit. As he communed daily with the Holy Spirit, he became more attentive and was able to easily hear the promptings of the Holy Spirit and as the Holy Spirit was his teacher and guide, He led him to learn and read about various things which he ordinarily would not have done.
After a while, his uncle began to trust Dennis with the complete management of his home and even moved on to involve Dennis in his work periodically as he knew Dennis was a University graduate. He took a liking to Dennis and even encouraged him to take online courses in IT-related courses which he believed would better equip and qualify him to land a job in his IT consultancy firm. Like everything Dennis did, he also did this with diligence, always involving God and believing and trusting him every step of the way.
After about two years, of being a “US Houseboy”, Dennis began working in his uncle's IT consultancy firm and was very much diligent as usual. He did his utmost best, and his best resulted in signing significant contracts for the firm, thus propelling him to a bigger position in the firm. In a space of about 3 years, he had risen up the ranks and was now a manager at the firm surpassing most of the people he had started working with. Like Daniel in the Bible, he was found to be about ten (10) times better than even the existing managers at the firm. He was not just diligent, he had superior intelligence as he was involved and allowed himself to be directed and taught by the Holy Spirit as well. Here also, as he obeyed the promptings of the Holy Spirit, he was led to study the most relevant things for his work and general progress in the organisation. He became more confident than he had ever been which aided in his gaining more clients for the firm.
As with typical human behavior, Managers he met when he came in and who were still in the same position and those he started work with, who had not been promoted were extremely jealous of him, even angry and did not hide it. They made it a point to exclude him and make him uncomfortable but he was not focused on them, he knew where he was coming from and knew God’s promises to him. He did his best and left the rest to God. He was not ignorant of their plans to cause him to step down as they always made it a point to accuse him when something went wrong. He was as diligent as ever but they kept falsely accusing him of one thing or the other but he found a way to prove his innocence in all these situations until one day..
In the background and while all these were happening, Dennis' family started having significant financial distress. The greed of his brothers had caused their father's business to lose very key customers. Gradually, their sales decreased significantly and they eventually had to close the shop. These brothers were still so proud and were not willing to accept that they were at fault. They rather started hounding Dennis to send them money forgetting the prophecy they witnessed some years back. They constantly called Dennis day in and out to send money for this and that, not even shy or remorseful about how they had treated him.
They even sometimes used their father as an excuse to extort more money from Dennis but Dennis being as caring and forgiving as he was, always made sure to provide for them. He provided for the needs of his father, his brothers, and their families as they were fully dependent on him. Even with all this, his brothers were still jealous and wanted to pull him down. They were not happy that they at least had someone who could assist them in their current predicament but rather looked for ways to “pull him down”. Rather than look for ways to make ends meet for their respective families, they looked for ways to destroy their brother.
As we all know, the devil finds work for idle hands and he used these brothers mightily. They found a way to find someone working in the same firm as Dennis and sadly with the way these things work out, they found one of the managers who disliked Dennis. Just like that, all the way from Ghana to the US they made a connection and that is when the worse happened. They convinced this manager to frame Dennis for fraud in the firm as this manager had tried so many times to bring Dennis down but to no avail. As this was related to fraud, before they could prove anything, Dennis was suspended from the firm, awaiting the conclusions of the investigation.
Dennis was confused, dejected, sad, and lost at how this could even happen to him, after all his prayers. Where was the Holy Spirit when all this was happening to him? Where was the God of Esther and Mordecai, the master planner, who caused the King to exalt Mordecai when Haman was planning death for Mordecai? Why didn’t God do the same for him? He who is omniscient and sees every hidden thing. He asked so many questions but received no answers from God. At this point, his Uncle had lost faith in him and also kicked him out of the house. No one, not even his girlfriend at that time believed him because the evidence was so damning. He had lost his job, was kicked out onto the streets, his girlfriend broke up with him and he was just utterly confused. Where could he go in a foreign land, who would even believe him?
Although Dennis had lost everything, he did not lose his faith in God. He held on to God because he knew that although no one else was with him, God was always with Him. Although this was not what he had planned for himself, God’s plan was always better and God was going to take him to His desired end for his life. He knew that God was the source of everything and he knew whom he had put his faith in. In his search for somewhere to stay, he went to the church where he used to Volunteer his IT services on Sundays and during the week. As a lover of God, he made sure that even during his busy time at work and even as he rose up the ranks at work, he always made it a point to be in the house of God. He prioritized serving in the house of God rather than only being served as he went to church. He was a valued member of the church and even from his corner in the IT control room, the Pastor and church elders knew him. His addition to the team was felt as there was a significant improvement in IT-related activities in the church. Therefore as Dennis left home, the only place he knew he could go was the house of God.
(To be continued)
What happens when Dennis goes to the house of God? Will he be rejected there as well or will he be welcomed? Let's find out in the next episode.
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