Date: Friday, 2nd May, 2025
Text: Jeremiah 29:11
Author: Pastor Adedeji Fadehan
Exhortation:
About twenty one years ago I visited the University Of Jos, Plateau State in the North Central part of Nigeria. There I met a fascinating young Cameroonian postgraduate student. By then he was a man around his early thirties who had lost his sight at the age of twelve.
His eyes were wide open and looked very bright and clear but he was completely blind. He narrated his story saying he was not born blind but one day while he was outside in their house premises, the weather suddenly changed and it became dark and windy as though it was about to rain. Something like a whirlwind blew some sand into his eyes and he cried out for help. He tried to clean off the dust but the situation got worse and that was the last time he saw.
Before I met him he was already blind for over twenty years. However, he did not allow his predicament to limit him. He had attended the School For The Blind and graduated successfully. He went ahead to bag his degree and later became a Lecturer in the School for The Blind. His job was so lucrative that among his eleven non-blind siblings he was the most financially buoyant and stable.
Though he was the only blind person among his 11 siblings, the others who were not blind and their aged mother depended on him for survival. What a paradox of life!
When asked for the meaning of his Cameroonian native name, he said, it literally means , “Eyes”. In other words the one who had no sight became the eyes of the family.
He was so ambitious that he still left the shores of his country to further his studies in Nigeria, when I met him. He was so jovial that you couldn’t be around him and not laugh. He was very warm, accommodating and so disciplined that one day while eating from a plate of rice (he cooked many meals by himself), he finished his food without a grain falling to the ground. Even many of us with two bright eyes find that difficult.
Don’t allow yourself to be weighed down by your challenges. His plan for you are not for evil but for good to give you hope and a future- Jeremiah 29:11.
Prophetic Nugget: Rise brilliantly above your challenges because there is ability in every disability.
Bible in One Year: 1 Chronicles 10-12