Phoenix hurried out of the office.It was her lunch break. She wanted to catch a bite to eat as well as finish some errands that were long overdue.
She had a skip in her step. Life was good, everything was working out. She had a great job, her finances were in order, she had met a great man, and she had good friends to share all the good things that were happening to her with. And above all, God was good.
She walked on down the road, feeling confident and assured, then she was suddenly stopped by a stranger.
He wore a turban and seemed intimidating in his stature as he stood tall and lured over her. He sneered as his eyes pierced deeply into hers.
'God says you are going to travel soon' the stranger said, he gave her no chance to speak. 'Many good things are coming your way'.
Phoenix drew her eyes from his, and knew immediately, he was one of those that her friend had warned her about.
'As I was walking down the street' her friend had recalled, 'This man stopped me and began to tell me about things that were going to happen in my life. I listened long enough to know that he was spot on, but... I stopped him soon enough to know I didn't want to know anything else from him'.
Phoenix held up her palm to the stranger's face. Silently she meant 'talk to the hand but the face ain't listening'. He interpreted her sign in his own way and overall as being a 'no, and thank you'.
Phoenix carried on and went about her hourly endeavor, leaving the stranger behind.
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Phoenix sat down with her head in her hands.
She had just returned from an amazing holiday in Colombia. She had been offered a promotion a year ago and the rise in pay meant she was able to save and be liberal with her ventures.
She held the letter she had just opened and read, and couldn't believe it.
''Due to economical reasons, your post has been deleted. Please feel free for a right to appeal.''
Phoenix threw the letter across the room.
This couldn't be happening to her. She had just endured a period of ''we need to go on a break'' courtesy of her live in boyfriend right after her return from Columbia, and as a result she was living in a bedsit until she found better accommodation. And now, now she had lost her job!!
She got dressed and made her way into the office. She would continue until her time had reached for her to depart as well as sort out her legal rights.
So much to do, and so little time. Phoenix was stressed out.
She made her ritual of leaving the office for fresh air for and a bite to eat.
She walked down the familiar path, her heavy steps held less insouciance as previously, when suddenly she was met with a familiar stranger.
He had the same turban and the same demeaning stature as he stood tall over her. He had the same piercing eyes.
'God says You are going through some tough times, and you are in need' The stranger said.
Phoenix paused. How strange, she thought, that she had met with the same man again a few years later.
How strange, she thought again, that he was right the second time too.
He was right the last time and he was right this time.
Only the last time, Phoenix did not have a reason to listen to him. She had God then. But what good was God to her now. This time, her life was in disarray, she was in desperate need of knowing where she was to go next, where her life was headed. God was silent in her requests, He wouldn't answer so quickly.
But this man...this man would...
'Please, tell me more Phoenix said as she pulled out a satisfiable amount of money and placed it into the stranger's open and beckoning hand.
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"And The Lord said to me: "The prophets are prophesying lies in My Name; I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds."
Jeremiah 14:14
