HOW THINGS GET LOST (3) – INSENSITIVE CELEBRATIONS
There are things that must only happen to you once in a lifetime- you become wise after the first occurrence. That was my 2005 lesson.
My childhood friend had a lovely digital camera. We travelled with it when we resumed university. I had used it occasionally to capture moments. I had pictures of our visit to the deputy governor of the state where our University was domiciled. It had some great memories.
But something happened: At his mum’s 50th birthday, we also had the camera with us. At one point, we left the camera on his bed in his room, but we came back and could not find it again. We knew it was already stolen.
In our setting, when there are parties and celebrations, we flung our doors open, and there are always different types of people around at such times. We were not sensitive. After that day, I appointed myself as a security man during celebrations. I would sit indoors while others enjoyed the fun outside. I became more sensitive.
If you have ever lost anything while partying, you will understand. Pickpockets leverage the excitement and crowd to inflict serious pain. You will start looking for your phone in the pocket of your “agbada,” but it is gone.
People get carried away when they are celebrating:
We are decently dressed until it comes to our wedding day, and we get counsel from fashion enthusiasts who say, “It is just one day; enjoy it.” We then lose our guards. We drop our standards. It is just a day. The enemy does not need a whole day to strike. He maximizes every available opportunity.
The enemy is a snake. It does not need repeated bites to cause havoc. No! Just one strike is enough.
A relative told a beloved one, “Your best man on your wedding day was a Spiritual gateman. He did not let anyone come near you. His mouth was moving all through the event. He was on fire praying and covering you”. The relative then mentioned how someone touched the stomach of a bride in another family function. The enemy does not need more than a tiny space to strike.
Many lost guard and also lost precious treasures. You see believers who drop the standard and serve strange drinks for their parties. They claim it is for their friends. What a shame.
When did David strike the Amalekites? While they were celebrating.
I Samuel 30:16-17 NKJV
[16] And when he had brought him down, there they were, spread out over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil which they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. [17] Then David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled.
During celebrations, you must raise the standard of sensitivity. Be like Sarah while you celebrate the weaning of Isaac, and be on the watch for the mean attitude and mockery of Ishmael. Be watchful!
© temilOluwa Ola, Eruwa.