#ScribeStoriesLessonSeries
*THE SMART DEACON 1*
He covered his face with a face-cap which he wasn’t known to be used to wearing as he walked home through lonely path returning from the house of one of a loosed widow of the church. He is so smart that you’ll never notice he has any relationship with this widow in the public. This widow isn’t the only person he meets, he do travel out of the city and use harlots yet he sits in council to judge and backseat anyone caught in the act of infidelity. He is among those who unseat pastors transferred to their parish that he doesn’t like or poses a threat to his manner of life in that church. He had cunningly included his name amongst those who would be awarded as ‘Fathers of the Faith’ this will be, when awarded among the many awards he has racked as a church deacon. His wife wasn’t aware of his dubious way of life because of the way he has smartly covered it up, she thought she was getting married to a heavenly conscious brother but never knew he was marrying a very smart deacon who has mastered the art of deception. He has fooled the entire church for several years and deceived his wife into believing he is who he is not.
The wife started suspecting his true person and would begin investigating his moves. It was a very difficult task because he is never careless with his phone which is always password locked. Most of his clandestine activities are done out of his town where no one knows him. But one day someone would call him while he was bathing and the wife would copy out the number which wasn’t saved on his phone with a name. She put the name on her truecaller app and saw a female name appear on it. She traced the name and number on facebook amongst her husband’s facebook friends list and discovered it was the name of one of the young widows in their church. She wouldn’t suspect much; perhaps she was calling because of church matters and there had been no visible relationship between her husband and this widow; she has never seen them talk together or seat together whether in church or in any other location so she dropped her guide. But one day, her neighbor would rush to her house to tell her that she saw her husband with that widow together in another town. Her neighbor knows the widow when she was invited to their church during one of their children’s christening. When she was told her what she saw, she would set trap for her husband and this was what she did…

To be continued

#ScribeStoriesLessonSeries
*THE SMART DEACON 2*
She told her husband that a certain woman whom she suspects is that widow in the church called him while he was bathing and she answered the call. That the widow called her darling and said ‘I’m already there waiting for you’ the man became so upset, looking at him, you can see the confusion and discomfort on his face. Shut up woman! You don’t know what you are saying. How can you accuse me of sleeping with that widow, I’m a deacon in the church, I’m born again and I don’t see any other woman besides my wife. I didn’t accuse you of anything, I was just joking, no one called you my handsome husband she said with a smile on her face, I just got that funny feeling that someone has been seeing you and it might be her and I joked about it. The husband now became calm
The trap has worked the wife said within her; he is definitely seeing that lady if not he wouldn't be that upset and trying to defend what she hasn’t been able to proof. The husband would be observed doing another of his secret calls after which he’ll come in and tells her he is going out for a job. When the husband left, she’ll go the widow’s house and discover she too wasn’t around within that period of time. So whenever she suspects her husband had made that secret call and go out and he used too, she’ll rush to see if that widow was at home and like before, she’ll be told that the widow just left to somewhere and when she inquired when she returned much later through the widow’s neighbor, it was approximately the time her husband would also return. Now that she has confirmed that her husband is cheating on her, her life became miserable, she lost her sleep, joy and manners. She felt inadequate, betrayed, unloved and unsecured. Sometimes she imagines that her husband would walk home one day with the widow and push her out. She started investigating her husband, follows him up and down, tries to listen to all of his calls, reads all of his texts and sometimes would opt to escort him to his work place and kept complaining of this and that. Because she had no concrete evidence against her husband, she couldn’t come out boldly to accuse him of infidelity. She no longer has time for herself or the kids and it was affecting her general well being.
One day she was listening a teaching on marriage where she was taught that she can’t change her husband by her attitudes and investigating her husband’s whereabouts would ruin her life. Its true she told herself and she prayed, casting her marital care upon the Lord. She asks God to give her rest and take away her heavy burden. She felt peace and an unusually joy, the peace and joy she had when she newly got born again many years ago, the peace and joy she had carelessly lost because she allowed her husband’s behavior to put her in disarray. Now that she has decided to stop investigating her husband, she would call an online counselor to ask, what she would do afterwards concerning her husband’s behavior and this is what she was told…
TO BE continued

#ScribeStoriesLessonSeries
*THE SMART DEACON 3*
Your attitude would take away your peace, and make you a bitter woman and that wouldn’t change him rather, it would make him more hardened, secretive and shrewd. Cast your burden to the Lord and leave it there. You can’t change your husband, you can’t talk him out of his folly neither will your attitude make him see that what he is doing is wrong, it’s only the Holy Spirit who convicts people of sin. That word it’s only the Holy Spirit who convicts and transform people struck her deep and she decided to give up on all effort to change her husband through her attitudes so she resulted to prayers. Every Wednesday, she with her kids would fast for the head of their home; they’ll pray that he be genuinely saved and that every strange woman in his life should be uprooted. The situation never changed but she had her peace and when he returns home from any of his suspicious journey, she’ll welcome him with all the love she knows how to give and feed him properly without giving him any attitudes. The deacon thought he has succeeded in taming his wife without knowing that her new behavior was as a result of the peace and joy she found in God.
She is a happier wife now. Her friend who had similar issue sometimes ago has become a harlot now. She decided to cheat on her husband because he was cheating on her and things got complicated; she became pregnant and couldn’t abort though she tried to repeatedly. Her husband would divorce, not that she expects less because she has started living with another man. Her children had to grow up seeing their mother with different men and their father with different women and it devastated their lives. There was a time it was reported that her 12 year old daughter was caught with another teen and her 15 year old son drank himself into stupor and slept inside a gutter. Her children don’t respect her neither honor their father. The man she was living with had chased her away and brought a

#ScribeStoriesLessonSeries
*THE SMART DEACON 4*
She had seen what happens to broken home; the effect it has on the children and the possible effect it may have on her so she has decided not to do wrong because her husband is doing her wrong.
Another of her friend would come and advise her, since you started praying what has changed? Your husband would give you HIV one day, divorce him and report him to the church so he’ll be stripped of all those titles. These words kept hurting her so she decided to give up on her prayer commitment to her husband and report him because she was now afraid of being infected with HIV. When she went to report him, the elder he reported to say her husband just come and reported her of accusing him of infidelity that he should speak with her. She became weak; the husband had reported her before she could report him, had she known, she wouldn’t have reported this issue, now she is the problem not her husband. After that incidence, she listened carelessly to that elder as he advised her to stop suspecting her husband then she left and decided never to report to anyone again. She has started losing her peace, she stopped having sex with her husband for the fear of contracting HIV and this pushed him further away. Her joy started draining again and she started becoming bitter. The temptation to sleep with another man started getting stronger as her prayer life ebbed away and guess whom she was falling for? It was a supposed man of God who runs a prayer house. She has been going there to see if anything may happen to the women who are breaking her home. Some of her friends have told her that that man of God would pray and whoever sleeps with her husband would encounter miseries. Her bitterness for that widow had grown so strong; she wished and prays that she dies. She believed she is her enemy now. Now she is falling for the prophet who has history of sleeping with the women who comes to him for prayers. The prophet had prophesied to her that God will restore her marriage sometimes later and that he can be helping her sexually until such a time comes. At first she wondered if it was actually God then she started falling for him; going for more prayer meetings with him. One day, she’ll see something that’ll force her to forcefully end whatsoever infatuation she was having with the prophet and this was what she saw....

#ScribeStoriesLessonSeries
*THE SMART DEACON 5*
…married women fighting themselves because of the said prophet and that brought shame to her, she asked herself, ‘how did I become this?’ She would re-contact that online counselor who had advised her before and she would repent and turn back to God casting her cares upon the Lord after she was counseled on the importance of maintaining her joy and holding on to God’s peace. The situation with her husband seems to be getting worse but one day things would change; she caught him red-handed; she had visited another city and unfortunately for her husband, it was the city where he went for harlotry. He was with some prostitute when the wife mistakenly walked up on him. He greeted him and the lady and told him what she came to do in that town; she had told her husband earlier that she’ll be in that town for a certain visitation but he has forgotten to tread carefully. She went home and she wasn’t upset; I should be mad at him, why do I still have peace despite catching my husband red handed? She was calmed and truly relaxed because God has truly lifted the burden off her shoulders though the deacon has changed and when her husband would stealthily walk in, she welcome him as usual, place food on his table, gave him a peck and walked away to continue in her domestic duties. There was grave silence in the room; you can hear even hear the sound of your heartbeat. What is happening the husband asked himself, she should be mad at me, she should be raining insult on me and threatening me here and there but she just served me food as usual and left. I won’t eat this food, perhaps it’s poisoned. While he was there staring at the food, the wife would walk past and asked, ‘darling why aren’t you eating?’ please tell me the truth, did you poisoned this food? He asked perplexed….
TO BE CONTINUED

#ScribeStoriesLessonSeries
*THE SMART DEACON FINALE*
…. She walked to the dining and took some spoonful as she said ‘of course not!’ What happened today, aren’t you upset at me? She looked at him and said, been upset at you wouldn’t change you; it would destroy me, make me bitter and drain me of my joy. I can’t lose my joy because of your clandestine activities. I have stopped having expectation from you, it’s never my duty to make you love me and stay faithful to me, but it’s my duty to stay submissive to you as unto the Lord. God will judge for your failures and I won’t allow your failure hinder me from my duty unto the Lord (though you are the one who benefits from my submissiveness but it’s my duty to God).
Then he tried to eat and couldn’t continue and went in to rest. The thought of what happened that day would continue to haunt him, he thought he was a smart deacon but right now, he looks so much like a fool.
He was so afraid she may report him to the church council and the award he was expecting to receive in few months time would be denied him. He was afraid of many things he couldn’t figure out. He never believed there are sincere Christians, he just meet one in his living room; for years he had pretended to be a believing brother; tongue speaking and devil chasing though he hides all his sinful behavior for no one to see. Like he hides his evil behaviors, he thinks that’s how the entire Christianity is hypocritical but right now, he is he just meeting his wife for the first time with a pure Christian disposition and it would hit him hard. This became the point he breaks down and seeks reform; how can I become a Christian he asked his wife. His wife would refer him to the online counselor who told him to denounce his deaconship, and confess to the church leadership how unfit he has been, and pretentious and then he can start afresh to be a better Christian.
He would do so and from thence he became a better husband, having ended all immoral relationship he was involved in.
Today is Tuesday, and the former deacon is in the new converts’ class, not as a teacher but as a new convert who desires to learn afresh how to be a faithful husband and child of God.
The end.