“The Devil is a liar” shouted his wife as she tried to turn on the car.
“How is the Devil a liar? What has the Devil done this time?” He asked his wife as he sat on the passenger seat. She was to drive today.
“Well, we’ve run out fuel and we need to get to the Church event quickly. I am preaching today and the Devil is trying to frustrate me. Ashindwe. The Devil is a liar” she said then declared some Bible verses.
He laughed and looked to the side.
“What are you laughing at?” She asked him turning to face him.
“Why are you making the Devil famous?” He asked her.
She looked at him surprised. Giving him that shhhpiritual face.
“Honey, the Devil is not to blame for the low fuel, we are. You forgot to go to the petrol station yesterday after the visit from your mom. You are giving the Devil too much credit. When things go wrong it is not always the Devil’s fault. He is not that powerful. Many times it is just a matter of poor human decisions and laziness” he said.
She looked at him intently.
Silence.
He smiled and continued, “Yes honey, like the day we were financially struggling. That wasn’t the Devil plotting against us. It was just us who were making a mess and not making good financial decisions. We were borrowing too much, spending too much and living above our means. Once we got more disciplined, we attracted wealth. Look at us now, we were able to buy a new car and we’ve built our own home”
She unbuckled her seat belt and listened to her husband.
“When we were struggling to raise our teenage daughter. It wasn’t the Devil who was messing our family. It was us as parents who didn’t take time to understand how to raise a teenager. We didn’t listen to her, we were talking down at her demanding respect and believing that since we love God she will tow the line. Once we went for the parent’s seminar and we learnt the strategy on how to raise a teenager, our relationship with our daughter has improved. She even tells us she loves us these days, she hugs you, takes us out for lunch occasionally” he continued.
She sighed.
“When I applied for that job that I wanted so much. We prayed and prayed about it. But the truth is, I didn’t get the job, not because of the Devil as we used to say; but because I wasn’t qualified. The most qualified person got the job. I wasn’t blessed by it, but God blessed another with it. And look how things turned out. Because I didn’t get the job, I ventured into business and look at how successful I have been” he told her.
She put out a smile.
“When our marriage was going through difficulty and we used to say that the Devil has cursed us, we used to wonder whether we were carrying generational curses since both our parent’s marriages failed. We were wrong. The moment we put effort to better our communication and to spend more quality time together, our marriage improved” he said looking at her smile.
“When we had a car accident. That wasn’t the Devil as we used to say ‘Shetani ashindwe’.
That was my fault, my recklessness for driving while exhausted, battling fatigue. It was a bad choice, not the Devil.
Many Christians are used to blaming the Devil thereby shifting responsibility from themselves. They don’t work on their mess and much of what they do is say the Devil is at work.
Many marriages are failing, not because the Devil is this powerful being succeeding; but because of laziness, irresponsibility and indecision by the couple.
So no Honey, we will not make the Devil famous. We will declare more about God’s goodness and be good stewards of our blessings.
We will not live in fear thinking the Devil is coming for us yet we have God on our side to protect us. We will take responsibility.
When we fail to do something, we will own up and do better” he spoke further.
“Have I ever told you how much I admire you my amazing husband?” she told him.
He smiled and said, “You can tell me one more time”
She kissed him and said, “I love you. Honey, let’s board a matatu. We don’t have much time. The sermon I am going to preach has changed. I will preach on exactly what I have learnt from you: Stop making the Devil famous. No more giving the Enemy that has been defeated free publicity”
© Dayan Masinde and Akello Oliech
