Yola, My Nineveh

       “To Nineveh; yes, to Nineveh through a most inconceivable means. Jonah must go to Nineveh. Who is he that would dare counter the decree of The Most High?”

Was it a voice that I heard so clearly or was it a trick of the mind? Could my ears be playing the deceiver? Jonah the prophet was a man given to strong emotions—a wilful man who thought he could justify himself before God.

After all my attempts to scuttle the moves to transfer me to Yola failed, I started my preparations to go to Yola. First, I made enquiries on how to get there—the routes and the major towns which I would pass through on my way. However, since I had not been to Yola before, I resolved to go there, first, by public transport.

To my dismay, I learnt that there was no commercial transport that transits direct to Yola from Enugu in the day time. If one chooses to travel during the day, he would have to take the journey in phases, first, to Wukari in a commercial mini wagon.  From there, he would board another vehicle going to Yola. Such a journey, barring any serious delays on the way, cannot be accomplished in less than ten hours.

The implication is that assuming a cab took off by 900 hours, it would be arriving Wukari by 1500 hours. If one was lucky and there were enough Yola bound passengers at Wukari, the possibility of getting to Yola between 700 and 730 hours was there. Otherwise, arriving Yola could even take a much longer time.

One other thing I did not want to experience was arriving Yola when it was dark. From my modest knowledge of geography, and the enquiries I made, I learnt that in Yola, the sun rises earlier and sets earlier too, when compared to Enugu. Dawn is almost non-existent in Yola, as the night suddenly gives way to sunrise. So also night comes with such an abruptness which makes the dusk only a brief, almost unnoticeable passage of time—just  a fleeting virtually imperceptible moment between the day and night.

Then I heard a very crisp voice—a calm soft voice which seemed to emerge from within and without me.

“Everything forms part of God’s beautiful grand design, especially, for those that know in their hearts the loving way of God. The way which God has planned cannot be changed by man. Man in utter ignorance thinks he can selfishly alter it. He does not know that all his efforts are but a part in the divine design. When we let go, and let God—when we surrender all to God, aligning our will to the will of God, we soon discover that we usually have what suits us best in life.”

After a brief pause, the voice continued speaking.

“Be thankful to God for this wonderful opportunity to gain experience. Bless whatever situation you find yourself in; it will yield its lessons to you. Then, the situation that gave rise to it would instantly be resolved.

“In diverse ways, life teaches us truth unchanging—no matter how gloomy and dark the night of a man’s life may seem, if he perseveres in faith, he soon witnesses a welcoming sunrise cheerily approaching him and lighting his way, from the horizon of his personal universe.”

The voice ceased speaking. I strained my ears to hear more, but only the sound of the gentle wind and the rustling of leaves, were all I could perceive.

Yola was the least of places I wished to be posted to. But here I was, under compulsion, going to Yola. Like Jonah to Nineveh, in the belly of the mighty fish. Enclosed—encapsulated—swallowed up; buried in the ‘belly’ of an old 60-seater bus, amidst loads of every imaginable configuration—stuffed sacks of different sizes, forms and shapes, bag and baggage containing whatsoever one may or may not think of.

Soon however, I found myself contesting within me, if it was only for the purpose of preaching the Word to the people of Nineveh that Jonah was compelled to go to that pitiable city, or was it more for the purpose of teaching him some lessons in non-resistance to God’s will—the complete surrender of man’s personal will to the will of God?

Have I not been compelled to go to Yola for the very reason that Jonah the wilful, stubborn prophet was also constrained to go to Nineveh?—that he may be purged of the remnant dregs of imperfection in him—blemishes which hindered him from being a pure channel fit for Divine Spirit, and a conscious co-worker with God.

Jonah thought he could understand the way and working of God through mental perception alone. He did not know that the human mind, on its own, is incapable of truly comprehending the ways of God. God had purposed for Jonah the son of Amittai, some lesson in non-resistance and total surrender to Infinite Spirit.

        Like Jonah, I thought aloud, I had also resisted God. I did all I could to get my posting to Yola reversed. But all my efforts were to no avail.

And the voice, like the sound of running waters, so clear and gentle, yet quite emphatic, spoke again.

“Because you resist the Lord God, like Jonah did, your fate has become like that of Jonah.”

“Well”, I said to myself rather light heartedly, “As the Lord wills. Wherever you lead me to, there would I go, for I know that where so ever I am, there you are, protecting and guiding me.”

As the voice gradually faded away, the prayer of Jonah came to my lips. Although I could not remember having ever memorized this prayer, I found myself reciting it without missing a word.

 

  I cried by reason of my affliction

 Unto the Lord and He heard me.

 Out of the belly of hell cried I,

 And You heard my voice.

 For You had cast me into the deep,

 In the middle of the seas;

 And the floods compassed me about.

 All the billows and thy waves

 Passed over me.

 Then I said, I am cast out of

 Thy sight;

 Yet I will look again toward

 Thy holy temple.

 The waters compassed me about

 Even to the soul:

 The depth closed me round about,

 The weeds were wrapped about

 My head.

 I went down to the bottom of the

 Mountains; the earth with her bars

 Were about me forever:

 Yet you have brought up my life from

 Corruption, O Lord my God.

 When soul within fainted,

 I remembered the Lord:

 And my prayer came in unto thee,

 Into thy holy temple.

 They that observe lying vanities

 Forsake their own mercy.

 But I will sacrifice unto you with

 The voice of thanksgiving; I will pay

 That which I have vowed.

 Salvation is of the Lord.  

 

  As soon as I finished reciting this prayer, a sublime calm came over my whole being, dispelling all stressful and disquieting thoughts from my consciousness. Suddenly the whole enclosure in which I was caged became lit up by a mysterious luminous soft blue light. And a voice which I instinctively knew as that which spoke earlier to me, drifted again to me, borne on the wings of a sweet gentle wind. It was so comforting, so clear; so reassuring.

 

        Be not afraid;

        Be not dismayed.

        Wherever you are,

        There I am also.

        For,

        I AM always with you.”

To be continued...