Odion and Omon are tightly knit twin brothers who were determined to marry in a foursome wedding. While Odion’s fiancée, Isoke, routed for the idea, Omon’s fiancée – Nonyelum, was indifferent. Nevertheless, all four planned the wedding assiduously, having fixed the wedding date after carrying all three sets of parents along. Both Isoke and Nonye were in their mid-thirties and under pressure from family and peer groups to “settle down.” Some two months before the wedding, Nonye, who was quite spiritual, had a troubling dream about her fiancé, Omon, but could not quite remember the dream. She, however, recalled that the dream portrayed him to be a different person from the beloved Omon she knew and respected. Suddenly, she realised that her prayers had been geared toward God making Omon the perfect partner for her. She stopped and had a rethink. She needed to ask God to be aligned with his perfect will for her, not to rubberstamp her choice but to guide her in making the right choice. She started praying for God’s perfect will, and the more she sought God’s face, the more she felt something was wrong with her choice, so she decided she would not be stampeded but would rather wait for God’s confirmation before going ahead with the wedding. She sought out Omon and asked for more time, but he rebuffed her and told her he would get married on the set day, with or without her. When she broke the news of their breakup to her parents, they were angry and embarrassed but agreed that marriage was not a decision to be taken lightly, and she needed to be sure before embarking on it. They told her in plain terms,” Once you are in, you will never have our blessings if you come out.”

 As for Odion and Omon’s parents, they were furious but went ahead with the plans, hoping that Nonye would come round. Omon’s mum surmised,” She is probably experiencing cold feet and will get over it.” Omon, on the other hand, encouraged his family to continue with the plans; little did they know he had a plan B, until a week after Nonye’s bombshell, he surfaced Shewa as his proposed bride. Isoke was shocked but nevertheless happy that the proposed foursome wedding would still hold. When Nonye got to hear about Shewa through Isoke, she went into her closet and gave thanks to God for the revelation. Obviously, she now knew Omon was not God’s choice for her, and who knows what untold challenges she would have faced if she had followed her own choice. She continued to seek God’s face concerning his choice for her, and six months after the scheduled wedding, she met Michael. As she prayed concerning him, she felt peace and an acclamation from God. She invited Isoke to her wedding with Michael and was surprised to learn that Odion and Isoke were already filing divorce proceedings. Isoke had found out after the wedding that the twins were not just philanderers but also steeped in occult practices. They had merely pretended to be Christians to obtain “wife material” from the church.

Often, we pray to God for guidance, but usually we already have a preferred line of action, a preferred option which we ask God to perfect. So many of us predetermine our children’s school or cause of study and merely ask God to make our choice possible, forgetting that God has his plans for each of us. His plans for us are perfect, and by imposing our will over his, we sometimes derail destinies. We even seek to help God achieve our desires and preferences by using our sphere of influence to achieve OUR desired goal, which may be at variance with God’s will for us. Oftentimes, when we are at variance with God’s divine purpose or will, we end up struggling to maintain a balance, whereas God’s will for us is achieved with ease. Even when we meet with challenges along our way, he enables us to overcome them, and if he decides to let us remain in them, he gives us the grace to abide, all for a purpose.

May God guide our steps and enable us to pause and inquire from him regarding direction, before rushing into decisions.

Love

Havilah