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THE DEVIL ON THE ALTAR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
He had been excited when the duo told him of their intentions to tie the knot about eleven years back and he had happily blessed the union since he could vouch for Paul, he knew his daughter was in safe hands. But it had been from one problem to the other and when his daughter lost a six months old pregnancy and had her womb removed, his heart broke into many pieces and wished he had never given her to Paul. She wouldn’t give him a grandchild and he could not open his eyes to lose her too and that was why he had stayed close to them to always help out whenever a problem arose and that was a frequent occurrence.
Paul was bailed out of the prison the next day and taken to the hospital without his consent. He was placed on bed rest and diagnosed with some psychological complications. He became critical when the doctor discovered he had second degree prostate cancer. Deborah felt her whole life crashing when she heard the news of Paul’s condition.
“Does this mean he would die soon?” She asked in fear.
“Of course not! Remember we are children of God and have been given authority over every sickness and disease. We would pray and I trust God that he would intervene,” Pastor Raphael consoled his daughter.
They spent a fortune on his first surgery and his condition only grew worse. He was scheduled for another surgery when Deborah told her father about what a prophet told her sometimes back and it confirmed what Pastor Raphael had been hearing in his spirit.
“You mean the prophet told you that calamities would continue to befall him if he did not confess some things?” Pastor Raphael asked to confirm what she said.
“Yes dad!” Deborah replied and he sighed.
They went over to Paul’s room and luckily for them, he was conscious.
“How are you doing today?” Pastor Raphael asked him and he nodded indicating that he was fine.
“We are here to discuss something very important with you and we want you to calm down and think carefully before you answer us.”
“Ok,” Paul managed to say and Deborah was seriously fighting back the tears that were threatening to escape from her eyes as she saw her once handsome and agile husband who had become a shadow of his previous self.
“After much enquiry prayers on your condition, we have gotten to know that there were some things you did that are responsible for all the things happening to you. I would want you to think clearly and tell us about it so we can pray with you and take other steps we need to take,” Pastor Raphael tried to explain to him calmly. After a brief silence, Paul nodded his head in the negative making Deborah to scream at him.
“Don’t hide anything from us. You might die if you keep this up. Confess so you can obtain forgiveness and stop being hard-hearted.”
“Stop it, Debby. He doesn’t need this now. Just take things easy and let him think.”
“He wouldn’t confess. He has been denying it for years and has landed us in many calamites and even at the point of death, he is still denying it.”
“Leave us now,” Pastor Raphael commanded and Deborah left in tears.
Pastor Raphael tried everything in his power to make Paul confess to him at least he would know how to handle it. But Paul was on the defiant and after much trial, Pastor Raphael gave up with a heavy heart. He wondered if Paul was saying the truth or being adamant in falsehood.
Paul continued to deny the accusation that he had hidden things to confess and even when Deborah tried to persuade him, he was adamant.
To be continued…
