ORIENTATION OF A KING V

“Dad” Eti whispered again, but the wheezing sound in Kunle Smith’s ear wouldn’t let the sound register. It

was the fierce desert wind. A storm was nigh. Even though Kunle couldn’t see the storm, the tell-tale signs were enough to write a sonnet about its monstrosity.

 “This is going to be bad” Kunle screamed over the wheezing wind as he looked down to see Eti’s lips moving. He picked up his boy, wrapped a shawl over his face and went against the wind, picking his steps gingerly in order to avoid sinking. He was hoping to find a boulder that could shield them from the winds but even he knew that hope at this point was a couch on an ocean. 

After trudging for about ten minutes, Kunle knelt down at the crest of the dune he had climbed, set Eti down, and removed the shawl from his face.

Kunle had taught Eti that God was always on time to meet our needs… never early, never late and the boy had requested that they go to the desert without any supplies and test the proposition. Despite Kunle’s explanations that God’s assurance for provision was no reason to tempt him, the boy wouldn’t let up.

Kunle was skeptical about the whole thing until he had a vision and God assured Him… this was a lesson the boy needed to learn experientially. 

So three days ago, after flying all the way to Maiduguri from Ikeja, they boarded a taxi from the airport to the Nigerian-Chad border – driving for over 8 hours to the Monguno end.The bearded taxi driver couldn’t understand why a man and his son would get down at the middle of nowhere and walk off into the midday heat of a sweltering desert. Was this a modern version of the Abraham-Isaac fairy-tale?

In the last three days they had wandered from the outskirts of the desert (featuring occasional trees & boulders) to bare strips of sand (blistering in the day and frosty at night). There had been no oases, no fruit or vegetable tree in sight and no animal even. They had not eaten or drunk anything in over 48 hours – they had their last on the taxi. Eti had ceased talking yesterday and Kunle had considered returning. 

Yet, when he asked Eti if it was time to return, the boy shook his head in the negative 

This was a huge mistake… Kunle thought to himself… was he sure God had really spoken to him? Why did he even agree to this sort of madness? He considered how far they had come without experiencing any life form other than sand. This was one lesson too aggravated… he decided then that this would be the last practical lesson Eti would be given.

He took out his satellite phone and Eti’s weak eyes bulged.

“What are you doing dad?” Kunle made out the whispered words as he observed the caked lips of his only son. 

“Saving your life son” Kunle responded. As he dialled the private helicopter service he had chattered for a week (anticipating current situations), Eti tugged weakly at his sleeve and he looked down at the boy. 

“Son, I’m sorry, but we shouldn’t tempt God” Kunle rubbed his son’s head as Eti pointed at something behind his father.

Kunle turned to see what it was… a hamlet… how? That wasn’t there moments ago… hold on, that’s where the dusty wind had blown from… Kunle’s shock and disappointment knew no bounds… His son’s faith beat his!

“God is always on time daddy” Eti whispered again, his face too strained for a smile…

***

This is for dreamers like Abraham... I have no idea how far out you have gone… but if God has sent you forth to a land that you do not know… and circumstances are telling you it’s time to pack up and go back home… Please don’t … God is always on time… He’s not asleep!