Sometime in September 2017, I noticed a recurrent, lingering cough that wouldn’t go away. I initially ignored it but its persistence in spite of all I did, caught my attention. I kept coughing without an obvious cause, so I knew there was more to it than just the dust in the air. I had been to the hospital for diagnosis and ran several tests including Tuberculosis and other lung conditions just to confirm I wasn’t reacting to some form of inflammation or illness. However, nothing was identified as the cause for it. Some medication was prescribed, yet I didn’t get better.

Early this year, I decided to reorder things around a bit to see what the trigger for the cough was. I embarked on several hygiene and nutritional changes just to identify the trigger. I was very concerned about it not just because it had lasted more than six (6) months, but because it had an impact on my life. It kept me awake through the night. I couldn’t lie completely stretched out on the bed, I had to sleep with my head (from my upper abdomen) raised up, almost like I had to sit up in bed to sleep. I coughed through the night and watched and prayed for the day to break. On days when there was power failure and neighbours had to turn off their generator just before midnight, from outside one could hear me coughing so vigorously. Most mornings I woke up and as I was driving out of the compound, I met the security man and the caretaker staring at me like “Is she really okay?” I couldn’t make a complete sentence without coughing in-between. I became very conscious and avoided speaking with people, yet even when I was silent in meetings, you could still spot me because I coughed very frequently and had to leave to get rid of the mucus. The mucus changed from grey to light yellow and then to light green. These changes made me even more worried about what was happening to me. It distracted me from work and impacted negatively on my social life. I started skipping meetings in the office just to avoid the embarrassment.

I always had ginger in my mouth even while I slept, and then upgraded to chewing alligator pepper to douse the urge to cough. I couldn’t stay in cold places or even sit in an air-conditioned room. At work when I went to the main office, you would hear comments in low tunes like “Madam has come oh, turn off the AC”. Drinking water from the fridge was a no-go zone for me. I drank hot, boiling water and my food always had to be hot, I couldn’t as much as take a cold snack. It was a horrible experience.
While all this was happening, I prayed about the situation and even spoke to it. I confessed healing scriptures but got weary after some time. It appeared that instead of getting better, my health took a downward turn. I gradually started losing my confidence in God’s Word to heal. Though it wasn’t obvious to anyone, my attitude changed, and I knew it. I wasn’t confused about God’s ability, neither was I any bit confused about His Word, but I just couldn’t tell why I wasn’t seeing the change for something as small as a cough especially because I had seen God do bigger things in my life. Well, all I needed was a change and somehow, I figured that offence was going to keep me further away from my victory than I was ready to admit. At this time, several other things were going on in my life and it was obvious I needed to clean shop. So, I decided there was no point running away from myself, I needed to face the issues at stake squarely.

I prayed about the situation and asked God to show me where I was missing it. I figured that if personally, I do not like coming home to a house that is untidy and therefore cannot settle down in a filthy place, then God must desire better than staying in a temple that is ravaged with sickness and disease. It isn’t good PR for His image that I am identified by anything less than the blessing. That means He even wants me healed and whole more than I may want it for myself because this is where He lives.
I remembered several healings I had experienced and several other breakthroughs I had had in God and knew that God is faithful, He is true to His Word and if anything was wrong, it wouldn’t be with Him but most likely with me. So, I decided to go to God until I heard Him say something to me about the situation. He led me to Proverbs 4:20-22 where we are told the Word is life to those who find it and health to all their flesh. Verse 21 says it was my responsibility not to let the Word depart from my eyes but to keep it in my heart. He told me this was the missing link. While it was true that I could quote this and several other healing scriptures off the top of my head, I realized it was necessary to spend time in the Word to feed my faith for my own health. It was important to spend time not just quoting the Word but to put my eyes on it. I already had a habit of listening to messages and so the Word was in my ears, but I needed to spend time putting my eyes on it, not just quoting it by heart. The Word needed to get into my system to be productive. I knew it had to go in through my eyes, my ears and my mouth.

Therefore, I got some healing Scriptures and spent time feeding on them. During my time of study at Ekklesia, we were encouraged to get some reference study materials. I got an e-copy concordance and a vine’s dictionary on my iPad. I use them on few occasions, but never really studied with them. This time though, I used the concordance and the vine’s dictionary and checked up every word on those healing Scriptures. I put my name in them and personalized them in ways that they came alive to me. I printed these healing Scriptures by the days of the week and laminated them (that is I had healing Scriptures for every day of the week). Every day, I meditated and muttered these Scriptures until they rose very strong in me. Most times, I didn’t go past one or two Scriptures just speaking them out loud and declaring the truth in them to myself. I woke up one hour earlier at 3:30 a.m. every day to do this. Afterwards, I broke bread declaring the same truth I had meditated upon.

God visited my prayer life through this experience. My focus moved from just wanting to get better and healed of a nagging cough to realizing where I am seated and what flows from my new position. In the past, I knew the truth that I had been delivered from the kingdom of darkness but the reality of where I was translated into hadn’t dawned on me until this time. I saw things differently. I spent most of my free time studying the Word, looking up meanings of basic Bible scriptures and how they related to me, praying in tongues and just generally fellowshipping with my Father. I broke bread at least twice every day. Apart from waking up one hour earlier for this, I also decided to walk to church and back most times just to get some alone-times with God. Most evenings apart from Thursdays and when my team rehearsed in the choir, I took a walk to Agip junction and back just praying in tongues and muttering the Word. This way I didn’t get distracted by either a phone call or something to do at home. I looked forward to my alone-times with God.

Sometime in April, one night I woke up sweating. Instinctively, I reached for the AC remote and turned it on. I only noticed I slept with the AC on when my alarm rang at 3:30 a.m. I also then noticed that I hadn’t been coughing. I jumped out of my bed and checked myself. I was normal, I had slept in an air-conditioned room, I laid flat on the bed and Uloma was normal! This was when it dawned on me that my healing had manifested without my knowing it. I praised God and danced that morning. It was a glorious day. And I have stayed healed ever since!!!

Now, I drink all the cold water I want and only take room temperature water when I feel like it and not because I was going to choke. I even chew ice cubes when I get back home from the office. It’s amazing how people come into my office now and they are like “ah, this office is too cold”. I turn off the air-conditioning when I want to. I sleep like a baby because, as His beloved that I am, He gives me sleep. I am enjoying life in the overflow. He has furnished me with His goodness.

I want to thank God for what He did for me. I want to Thank Him for my healing which has come to stay. I will say it again and again, that I’ve got history with God. I call to mind His faithfulness and I know He never fails.

My life today reminds me that I’ve got history with God – History of His goodness; history of His faithfulness and kindness.
Now I know His Word is vitally important for my health and my well-being is dependent on it. Therefore, I am committed to staying with God’s Word because it has integrity. I give God all the praise.