THE GRAND FINALE


"Deborah, I read your essay, it is excellent", "Oh, are you Deborah Agbo?, Your essay is superb", " Debby, you are good o, I'm sure you will win"..... These were some of the comments I received from my teachers and friends after I submitted my entry for an essay competition organized by the then Minister of Education for FCT secondary schools.

Fast forward to the grand finalé, I wore my well ironed uniform( I actually hated ironing, well I still do.. but then...), I was looking all ready to go and get my prize. We got to the FCT archive house for the event, different schools were present for the ceremony.

Alas! it was time to announce the winners. I could literally hear the sound of my heart's beat. I was expecting to win, truth be told. "The 3rd runner up is....", My heart raced faster. "The second runner up is...." I felt like running up to the stage already (smiles). To make matters more interesting, the moderator said.. and the first position goes to Government comprehensive secondary school, Bwari... My school!!! I would have passed out at that point if not for God's mercy that helped me maintain my dignity... And the winner is....." My heart sank! It was not me!!! I sat as I watched the winner walk majestically to take her prize.

While I was trying to process what had just happened, one of our teachers came to me and said, "go and stand behind her while NTA is interviewing her". "My day couldn't have been any worse", I thought. My, oh my, I was broken! I was hurt and devastated. (That's when I realized I'm a strong girl, jokes apart) I held myself,  I held the tears back till I got to school and to my hostel. As soon as I hit the bed, the tears began to pour uncontrollably. I cried and cried.

I later found out from my English teacher that my essay did not make it to the finals because I broke one of the rules. I exceeded the limit of the number of words allocated ( you know all these not more than so so so number of words). Yours truly did not adhere to that part of the criteria and so I was disqualified, no matter how well I thought I had written.

Was I a good writer? Yes, I was. Did my essay contain great ideas, yes, it did. However, all of these meant nothing to the examiners all because I did not meet up with one of the rules. I'm sure this was a major criteria due to the number of entries they must have received.

Hmm..  I cannot recall the number of times I've had to tell this story to people around me, because this was one of the moments I learned a lesson the hard way.

God has given you an assignment, he has given you a ministry, a talent or a calling. This assignment comes with instructions, both personal and general biblical principles which must be obeyed if we must win an eternal prize at the end of our journey on Earth.

You may be so talented at what you do for God that men may approve of you and sing your praises everywhere, but then, we must be careful to ensure that we are in right standing with God always.

We must check to see that what we do in the name of pleasing God is indeed pleasing to him.

Just like the grand finalé in my story, on the last day, there will be many surprises, both pleasant and unpleasant...Matthew 7:21-23.... You might be expecting a commendation from God, meanwhile there's a little spot in your garment.

Do well to ensure your heart is in the right disposition with God every moment of the day, because the grand finalé is closer than we may think...

  

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