Seth

There I was, my eyes not blurred by tears, unlike the multitude round about Sam’s grave. Everyone was weeping—eyes bloodshot. Those who don’t know Sam, he was my best friend. My covenant friend. My Jonathan. He had just been in a dire, malignant & vehement episode caused by sickle cells. Unlike the others, this one had him in hospital for two weeks, and into ICU… and then …

Anyhow, I was performing a Lazarus-come-forth-kind-of-thing at the grave. Those who knew Sam know him to have been a savage comic. It was hard to be bored or sad around him, even if you barely knew him. For that matter, I kept expecting him to kick the casket shutter and go like, ‘Hey y’all, I was playing with you!’ …

Regardless, time came for the concrete to be poured. I wasn’t moved. I was praying hard in tongues. I swear there was no spot of unbelief in me.

I was ready to stay at the grave, as if in a trance, vowing it unvoiced, not to move an inch unless I heard Sam breathe, knock, speak, nudge, call, sneeze… anything!

I then heard God say, ‘His Spirit lives on …’ And then someone patted me out of that state so deep… Interrupting what could have been a critical moment in all our lives, but no matter… I was determined to see a man walk from the dead, since that man himself had seen his brother resurrect.

My pastor likes saying, ‘Comfort is the ministry that the Holy Spirit gives, when the miraculous fails.’ After that day, what we were left with was thousands of impacted lives in need of comfort. And I kept expecting a phone call, even days later, telling me that Sam moonwalked out the grave.

Over a year has passed. And since comfort, is an entity that one can never get enough of, even when we do, it doesn’t hurt getting a little more. I have heard my fair share of it, as I have seen tones of Sam’s voice and walk and giggles through his sisters and nephew. Indeed, His spirit lives on.

Last Saturday the 4th, I had the privilege of emceeing the PhD graduation party for Ruth, Sam’s elder sister. Her PhD (in software engineering) took her 13 years to accomplish. Not that she wasn’t smart, but because of other circumstances. Speaking of smartness, she scored 4 aggregates, 10, and 21 points at PLE, UCE & UACE respectively.

The other factors as she narrated included loss of her mother, near-loss of marriage, a miscarriage of her to-be second born child, high blood pressure, loss of her younger brother in 2020, and another brother (Sam) in 2021. You can clearly see the pain and hurt and further causes of the drag.

But thanks be to God who always causes us to triumph…

I was to co-emcee with Ruth’s cousin, but I was timid & had cowered out. It had been a while since I last held a microphone to make people laugh. Ruth’s youngest sister came for me and told me to drop the pretense and go do what we had agreed upon. ‘We can do the ushering all well by ourselves.’ She said, as I had earlier used that as excuse.

In the second part of the function, I took over and oh boy did people laugh out so loud. It was a sharp turn to comedy lane. Little did I know I was ministering to all these people. The largest percentage was the elite elderly, and I thought my jokes were for the youth alone. I was proven wrong.

As the sun went to sleep, a group of elderly women beckoned me. One of them said, ‘We love you! When you spoke, we saw Sam speak. When you laughed, we saw Sam laugh. When you walked, we saw Sam walk. Witnessing that, made our hearts warm…’ then tears followed. I got goosebumps allover.

Another much older lady called me later, and she gave me one of those choking tight hugs. She said, and I paraphrase, that I was as if Sam reincarnated. She got so so emotional and thanked me for bringing smiles across her countenance

This gesture happened from other people as well. And on Sunday morning, God continued this conversation.

He brought to my mind Genesis 4:25. It says, ‘And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, ‘for God has appointed another seed for me, instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.’

To appoint means to set, fix, assign, to resolve, determine or ORDAIN. Among others, to ordain means ‘to prearrange unalterably’, to predestine or to determine the future of something in advance. It is like God, IN ADVANCE, knew that Abel would die, and came up with a contingency plan (plan B) of sending Seth. A contingency plan is only implemented in case of emergencies. That means Seth was in existence but not required. Once Eve got him, it was revealed to her that he was her comfort. That she had got another Abel.

Job comes to mind. He lost everything, but then God restored everything. Double in fact, just like Joel said God would.

Bathsheba had a miscarriage. David wept. But God sent him comfort. A Seth. Solomon was he.

Ruth (Sam’s sister) lost a mother, a daughter & two brothers. I lost a father too. But I have seen God give me more fatherly figures. I have seen Sam in Ruth, and at the same time I have seen Ruth call me Sam. Not that I force my way to act like Sam… I myself can’t explain it. Here is where God said that as you the reader might receive a Seth, on another plane, you’d be the Seth God is giving to an Eve somewhere. You’d be the Solomon God is giving a David somewhere. To minister comfort to them, and sooth their wounds.

God knows that the thief came to steal, kill and destroy. But He . . . He came to RETURN, to RESURRECT and to REPLACE. He came to RECOVER, to RECREATE and to REPAIR. He came to REMAKE, REBUILD & RECONSTRUCT. That is the meaning of Him coming that you might have life and life abundantly. Undoing whatever the enemy tries to do against you. I remember being robbed of a laptop in 2018. God gave me another in 2020. And I didn’t cough a dime. See Him replacing what was stolen.

Perhaps like Job, you feel you have lost everything (or you know someone in this state). God’s plans for you are to prosper you and not to bring you harm. He has no evil in Him. He didn’t orchestrate Joseph’s staged murder or sufferings. He didn’t kill Abel. He didn’t kill Job’s children. He only allowed it because he wanted to boast of how righteous Job was, but also to show the devil that He would still give back all the enemy takes. God wants you to notice the things He has brought back to you, that the thief stole.

The devil as well, has a way of wanting us to blame God for every bad thing that happens to us. When we fall for that, our trust in Him declines. We then lean on our own understanding, and cease to acknowledge Him in all our ways. The end? We deny God the power to direct our paths.

For whatever you lost, say like Joseph, ‘what was meant for evil, God means it unto good.’

But why Seth, you may ask. Well, God wants you joyful. Let me explain.

The bible says now abide faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. In order of mention, the last seems to hold greater importance. On parties, the VIPs usually speak last. It’d be odd if the newly weds speak before the friends and siblings. In the same way, Romans 14:17 says the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

I think God was intentional with keeping joy as last. My theory states it is very important. For what’s peace without joy? What’s righteousness without joy? . . .

Father, son and Holy Spirit. The third’s ministry is critical. From hovering upon the waters, to bringing to life everything God spoke in the beginning, to resurrecting the son, and giving His bride power; from these examples, I justify joy being at the core of all this.

God is after your joy. Eve was grieving over Abel. So was David. When Seth came … joy! When Solomon came … joy! So you lost your job! God says ‘Seth cometh…’ You lost your wife! ‘Seth cometh…’ You lost a sibling, or a parent, ‘Seth cometh…’

Another job I give you. Another son I give you. Another mother, father, brother, sister I give you. Says the Lord your God. You will be happy, and it shall be well with you. (Psalm 128:2)

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“Comfort, yes, comfort my people!” says your God (Isaiah 40:1)

May God send Seths your way, for whatever you’ve lost in your life, and may you recognize them quick, that your healing may become complete. Amen.