Most of the time, as I retrace my locus, walking in memory lane, it makes me to appreciate God that I did not miss that opportunity of going to Christ Apostolic Church on that April 16, 1972. I wonder what I would have done, if my girlfriend, who went with me to the Church, had insisted that we remained in my room in University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, for immoral purposes! What would have been my fate if the two medical students had not invited me to the church? Imagine, if I had not repented like my girlfriend! Thank God that I did not miss that golden opportunity.
In January 1966, when I was sitting for the GCE [University of London] in Port Harcourt, the day we had Mathematics, I was so sick that I could not stand up to go for the examination. It was a paper I had made much sacrifice to study, since I did not attend any secondary school and my friends were laughing at what they thought was ‘a mad ambition’. My elder sister had comforted me, and promised to pay the fees for my next examination coming in twelve months’ time. Miss Okwuaku Nwagbara, a young girl from my town, I travelled with, bumped in and was surprised to see me lying down. I explained my situation to her but she would not buy it. “Go and bathe and dress up for your exam,” she encouraged me. I did. She led me to my exam centre before going to work. I passed the GCE that year, including Maths and Biology which were thought to be reserved for secondary school students. My success made me to read Mathematics at Advanced Level and then to teach the subject at Item Community High School, from where I went to UNN. I nearly missed that opportunity but for that lady!
In those days, at Ovim, my town, there were only two passenger trains, one going to Port Harcourt and the other to Enugu. The suburban trains would go also, one to Umuahia and the other to Enugu. If someone missed the train, he had to wait till the next day as there were a few motor vehicles and the roads were bad. My children now make a joke over me for going to the airport early and staying hours on end for my flight without complaining. I do not blame them, for they never knew the agony of missing one’s train! It pains me greatly for someone to say, “If I had known,” in situations that were within one’s control. May it not be your lot to miss your train, not in New York, where the train comes in split seconds, but in places like Ovim in the past!
Apostle Paul went to Athens, an academic community, on missionary journey and they looked down on him, perhaps, the intellectuals. The dress, he had been wearing for long, could be responsible for that. They even called him a babbler. Not minding the insult, he ministered God’s word to them. He noticed that, in their search for God, they dedicated a temple to an ‘Unknown God’. He showed them their error in worshipping idols and then pointed the Living God to them, as the One they should worship. Giving them the opportunity to repent from their sins and accept the Lord Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, some of them grabbed the opportunity and were reconciled with God. Some of them despised him and refused to surrender their lives to the Lord Jesus, while some of them postponed their decision. “We shall listen to you next time,” they said. Unfortunately for them, there was no such opportunity again, as Apostle Paul did not go there again. In hell, those people will ever live in regrets of, ‘Had I known’.
That was why Hebrews 3: 7-8, tells us, “Today, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness”. It is a terrible thing if someone perishes when he should not. Hardening of the heart is a disease worse than cancer. It has no cure. It is like a drowning man refusing a life jacket thrown to him.
When someone misses his last opportunity, may he not blame any other person. I am sorry that I do not accept any reason from someone for coming late to any meeting I call in Lagos, no matter the reason. If it is caused by traffic, I will ask him, why he did not anticipate it. In my great profession, they taught us how to make provisions for depreciation of fixed assets, such as vehicles, though they are coming out from the factory. I may even ask him whether he was late the day of his wedding, though I have seen such people. In one case at Aba, it was the bride, who came late. Uncle, in great anger, was detailing, how he would deal with her until I punctured his pride––“You are saying what you will do to a lady you don’t know if she has changed her mind to wed you,” I said. Like magma, he cooled down immediately!
‘Opportunity comes but once,’ they say. This is why we must not miss it. In 1997 our big uncle died, and on our way to pick my uncle for the burial, my car’s engine knocked. My driver towed it back to Lagos while my wife and I continued our journey in a public transport. At Enugu, I hired a taxi that took us home, including my uncle. The next day, he reported his son to me for not attending church services. “Is church important?” I asked him. “Why do you ask?” He asked. “You have a bad leg, but you manage it to attend burials, as you have done now, but on Sundays, it will not allow you to go to Church. Burial is more important than church,” I said.
Four months later, his wife complained to me that he had not gone to church, but she promised me that she would make him to attend that weekend. He did, and surrendered his life to the Lord Jesus. He came back home and challenged his wife and children that they were not living as God’s children. The next day, without suffering from any sickness, he passed on. When the Pastor, who led him to Christ, was contacted, his wife said that in her dream that night, she saw him being carried to heaven by the angels of God. Thank God, my uncle did not miss his last opportunity for salvation.
People miss their last opportunities because they think that they still have much time at their disposal. Time does not wait for anyone. Do not postpone anything you want to do. Most pastors fast and pray deep before delivering God’s Word. This is why you may feel in a particular way when it is being ministered. You may not feel the same when you go home or the next time you are hearing the message. Wisdom demands that you act or react as soon as it touches your heart. Nobody knows when he will die. It is possible for someone to plan to turn to God the next day and he dies today. God will not count on what he planned to do but on what he did.
For further comment, Please contact: Osondu Anyalechi: 0802 3002-471; [email protected]