“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’”(Isaiah 30:21)
What do you do when the Holy Spirit says, “Turn back”?
Do you obey, or do you reason it away because you think you know better?
One day, in my zealousness, I thought I was being wise, diligent, even savvy but I learned the hard way that the Holy Spirit sees what I cannot. And oh, how He loves us enough to keep speaking, even when we don’t listen.
A Day With Bureau De Change Men
One day, I was sent to convert some foreign currency to naira. I was determined to get the best deal for the person who sent me, so I skipped the usual, safe bureau de change guys near the market and decided to head to Allen Avenue instead. After all, everyone knows that’s the place where you can squeeze out a better rate sometimes.
As I approached the roundabout, I heard it clearly in my spirit: Turn back. I dismissed it.
Why would I turn back? I’d done this errand before. The system was foolproof: don’t release the notes until you confirm the naira in your account. Simple, right?
But the whisper came again, louder this time, and with it a memory that chilled me: a friend’s brother who once went to change dollars and watched his cash turn to paper right before his eyes. They saw the notes counted, and somehow, by the time they got home, it was paper. How could that happen? Only a Nigerian knows that jazz can pull stunts the mind can’t explain.
I shook off the thought and kept driving. I parked. I called over one of the currency guys. Suddenly six of them swarmed my car. That should have been a blazing red flag, but by then I’d gone rogue on the Holy Spirit. His voice was drowned out by my confidence and maybe my pride.
They started acting like they were looking for someone who could transfer the naira. They asked to see the notes. I handed them over, thinking it was safe. They counted it in front of me, and handed it back. I felt secure, ‘nothing spoil you know’….
Then, an elderly man appeared at my window out of nowhere. He looked straight into my eyes and said, “I hope you didn’t give those boys your money, they just ran across the road.”
My heart pounded. I laughed awkwardly, telling him, “Oh no, my money is right here; they said they went to get a phone to make the transfer.”
“Check it,” he insisted.
I checked and nearly passed out.
Three notes were gone, just like that. Vanished. Like magic. Wait a minute! I couldn’t understand it. I had watched them count the money. I had seen it with my own eyes, felt it in my hands. And yet here I was, holding less than I started with. How could it vanish?
Then, with an urgency I’ll never forget, the man barked, “Bring out water right now! Pour it on the money so it will stop disappearing!” Huh???
My hands moved faster than my brain. I snatched the eva bottle of water close by and drenched the notes in it. My heart was pounding like a drum. There I was, a grown woman, crying like a baby by the roadside, pouring water on money because the supernatural had crashed into my normal day.
Then I froze again and I started crying like a child. “Holy Spirit, I’m so sorry,” I sobbed. “Please help me. Please…”
And He did.
A man I had never met walked up as I wept, asked what happened, listened as I shook and stammered through my explanation. He made a few phone calls I still don’t understand. Long story short: they returned almost all the naira equivalent of the money, and I only lost a few thousand, pocket change compared to the nearly half a million naira I could have lost.
Who is the Holy Spirit to Me?
If you asked me who the Holy Spirit is, where do I even begin?
He is my Olugbeja, my Defender.
He is the voice of reason in my head when my own wisdom fails.
He is the strength of my life, without whom I can do and be nothing.
He comforts me, shields me, teaches me, inspires me, motivates me, guides me, fights for me…
He is my everything and my all.
I would not survive a day without Him.
