On Tuesday morning, she carefully selected her outfit because she knew she would be going straight from work to meet Emma. She wore a baby pink flowery siphon dress and a pair of black heels which confidentially completed her outfit.

She kept checking the time, waiting for 4pm. Her mind wasn’t at work anymore. By 3:30pm, she parked her bags and told her colleague she had to leave earlier that day. When she got into her car, she touched up her make up, said a word of prayer, committing the outing into her heavenly Father’s hand. She didn’t want to get to the restaurant before Emma, so she decided to place a call to him to find out where he was because they had planned to meet at 4:30pm in a restaurant close to Favour’s place of work.

 He told her he would be there in another 30 mins. It was then she realized how early she was and decided to slow down her pace. She remained in the car, turned on the AC and listened to music from her phone.

The songs were on shuffle mode and the first song that played was ‘I Do’ by Chris Morgan. She had not heard this song before but the lyrics, for some reason, really got to her; ‘I’ll do anything, for You

I’ll do anything You want me to do

‘cos I love You more than anything

‘cos I love You more than anyone and

I’ll live my life for You,

no matter what it take I do…’

As the song played on, she could her the Holy Spirit ask her, “Can you really do anything for me? Can you let go of Emma if I tell you he isn’t my will for your life?” 

There was silence from both her and the voice she had just heard. She could feel her heart racing again and sweat droplets gather on her face despite the AC. The question, all of a sudden made her feel really uncomfortable. At that point, she realized Emma was her Isaac that had to be placed on the altar.

With a heavy sigh, she rested her head on the steering and said, ‘Lord, You know I love You more than this.  If Emma is not Your will for my life, then let Your will and Your will alone be done. You have brought me this far and only You can see me through. Father, I love You.”

 It was similar to the statement Esther made when she told Haggai to choose the jewelry she was to wear to see the king, a choice she knew she couldn’t adequately make herself. Favour was completely willing to follow God’s choice.

She immediately felt this perfect mixture of peace and joy. She had strength to put her feelings under control and no longer allow them control her. She was still attracted to him but now had laid it all down at the Master’s feet. At this point, if God says ‘no’, she will be perfectly fine.

Her phone rang. It was Emma.

“Hello.”

“Hi Emma, where are you?”

“I’m at the restaurant. Apparently, I over-estimated the distance.” He explained.

“Oh wow, I’ll join you soon then.” She ended the call and began to drive towards the restaurant.

 As she parked her car at the restaurant, she noticed Emma’s car was already packed. She looked at her reflection in the rare mirror and spoke aloud to herself, “Favour, its God’s choice that matters the most. He will lead you aright.”

As she entered the beautifully furnished restaurant, she was welcomed by the aroma of well-cooked food. It was at that point she realized just how hungry she was. She had barely eaten all day because of excitement. She looked closely at those seated and noticed a guy seating alone, backing the entrance. From his frame, she knew it was Emma.

She walked confidently towards him and on approaching him smiled and said, “Hi Emma, I’m so sorry for coming late, it’s not my usual nature.”

Emma’s face brightened up as he saw her, he got up to give her a side hug.

“It’s no problem at all. You look beautiful as always,” he smiled.

“Thank you,” she chuckled. “You look good too.”

“How was work today?”

“It was good,” she said as she took her seat and unconsciously placed her hand on her tummy because of the hunger pangs that had begun to set in. She could tell she was getting freer with Emma.

Emma, being the observant type, figured she must be hungry quickly. He asked in a gentlemanly fashion, “why don’t we place our orders. I’m starving.”

“Me too,” she smiled, elongating the ‘too’ to show the intensity of the hunger.

Emma signaled to the waiter, they placed their orders and after about ten minutes, their foods were served.

“Alright then, tell me about yourself,” Favour wanted to know him more.

“What will you like to know anything about me?” Emma asked after taking sip from his glass.

“As much as can be told.” she smiled.

He spent a few minutes talking about himself, Favour listened with rapt attention. She nodded from time to time to show she was following him even though she didn’t stop eating.

“I am the first child of my parents and I have two sisters; Omolara and Omolola. I’m currently based in the United states, will be rounding off my PhD in another six months after which I plan to return to settle down here in Nigeria. Despite how tempted I have been, I’ve not had the go ahead from God to remain there after I’m done. I’ve learnt that the only way one doesn’t miss it in life is to follow the leading of God.”

Favour was impressed but constantly reminded herself not to get emotionally attached till she was sure that was what wanted for her.

The evening was a blast. She told him about herself too. She loved his sense of humour which he balanced perfectly with his palpable love for God and depth in God Word. She however made up her mind to pray about him and know specifically what God was saying about him.    

“Tomorrow is Bible study, if you’ll be able to make it,” she informed him.

“Definitely. I’ll be there by God’s grace. What time is it again?”

“5:30. I’ll save a seat for you,” she smiled. “It’s not because I enjoy seating beside you o before you start feeling yourself, it’s just because I just merely out of pity” she said jokingly

“Yeah right, we both know I’m fun to be with. Just agree that you enjoy my company.” he giggled.

They both laughed.

He paid the bill and they left.

Although Bible study on Wednesdays starts by 5:30pm, as a worker in church, Favour had to be there by 5pm to join the workers prayer meeting and help arrange the church. She was one of the committed workers in her church, she did all she did with her whole heart and not because she wanted to please people. She loved God and her passion for things of God reflected in her service in church.

This Wednesday was definitely a special one because her new friend would be around. She was looking forward to his coming. As she cleaned the chairs in church in preparation for the service, she caught herself smiling as her mind flashed back to her outing with him the previous day. She had already saved a seat for him.

Emma kept to his Word; he made it for Bible study and was also in time. He sat beside her as they had both agreed. Bible study that day was on ‘The need to Always Inquire’. It was an interactive session after which the pastor rounded off and summarized the key points.

He spoke about the fact that as Christians, we cannot but be led by God at all time. He made reference to David who always sought that face of the Lord before embarking on any task as found in 1 Samuel 23:2-3. He encouraged the church to make it a regular habit to ask God for His will over every issue emphasizing that nothing is too big or too small to talk to God about.

This for Favour, brought a stirring in her heart of a need to take out time to pray properly and allow God let her in on His plans for her especially with regards to Emma. After service, she explained to Emma that she wasn’t going to be able to see him that Saturday as they had earlier planned.

“I needed time out to trash out some things.” She explained. “We’ll see on Sunday if that’s ok by you.”

“No problem, that’s fine by me” he said. Sensing that she needed time to pray about what was beginning to transpire between them, he perfectly understood. He however had already started the process of ‘trashing things out with God’ but knew the matter could not be over flogged so he made up his mind to keep at it during the period that they wouldn’t be seeing each other. He needed to be absolutely certain before he took a step especially one this crucial.

To be continued…

Don’t miss any episode of Favour’s story. Follow any of the below links:
Favour’s  Love Story
Favour’s  Love Story 2
Favour’s  Love Story 3
Favour’s  Love Story 4
Favour’s  Love Story 5
Favour’s  Love Story 6