I have had to take buses or cabs were I sat beside really fat people that squashed me, sweaty people who rubbed off their sticky sweaty skin against me and people with terrible body odour. I even remember sitting with a lady who kept talking from the point were we entered the bus till she got to her destination. She was talking with her friend but was so loud and never kept quiet. It was really annoying. Believe me, I have shared public transport vehicles with all kinds of people including these two guys who wanted to sort off kidnap me (story for another day) but I have never sat beside a drunkard. This was my first time and hopefully will be my last.

I was initially the only passenger at the back sit and so like every cab driver, he called out for more passengers. Some minutes into the journey, his desire was fulfilled, he got passengers but the problem which was a huge one for me was that there were three of them and only two available spaces. The front passenger’s sit was occupied by a middle aged woman who wore these creepy sun shades. I wasn’t comfortable with the whole picking up of three guys and squashing me behind the driver. But that wasn’t the worst part. The guy that sat closest to me didn’t seem ‘normal’. He tapped my hand and signaled to me as though we had an agreement before and I was to play my part. He brought out his phone and expected me to give him my number. Frankly speaking I was confused, I began to apply the psychiatry lectures I had some months ago and assumed he was psychotic. I was wrong! He was drunk.

 I had seen people drunk on TV but never had one so close to me and definitely not for a long time, instead of getting scared I became angry, he tapped me a second and then a third time and I shouted at him, I warned him never to try it again and then the other two guys together with the driver began to apologize to me. There and then I felt sorry for the guy. He really looked wasted, he couldn’t even get to his destination himself that was why the other two guys had to follow him. How sad.

I like what king Solomon says in Pro 20:1 ‘Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler and whoever is led astray by it is not wise’. Alcohol has destroyed many lives, homes, careers and the list goes on. It has done these and sadly is still doing it. The truth is that it is subtle in its approach just as the serpent was when it appeared to Eve in the Garden of Eden (Gen3:1). It initially seems harmless but that’s why we are warned, ‘Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. Your eyes will see strange things and your heart will utter perverse things’ Pro 23:31-33.

Aside from it being subtle, it is very addictive and that’s the main problem ‘And you will say… when will I wake up so I can look for another drink? Pro 23:35. That’s how bad it can get, you just keep going down. However, the good news is that there is a way out. You don’t have to allow alcohol or any other addictive and life destroying siege like masturbation, pornography etc destroy you. JESUS IS THE WAY!  No matter how far away you feel you have walked away from His love, His love is farther, deeper, wider and greater.

The Bible admonishes us to ‘Lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, LOOKING UNTO JESUS THE authour and finisher of our faith’ Heb 12:1-2. The ‘battle’ against alcohol and other addictive and destructive life styles is not just a physical one. You need the power of God. That’s the place of looking up to Jesus. Run to Jesus today and let Him help you. God bless

(2014)

Emmanuela Mike-Bamiloye