I got a call that early Monday morning. It was circa 2002/2003. A woman was on the other end. She mentioned my name and said someone recommended me. She was looking for a good salesperson—she called it Account Officer. I didn’t know her, and I’d never met her before. She wanted to meet with me for a chat that same evening. I obliged. She sent me her address. It was somewhere on Obasa Street in Bodija, Ibadan.
When God wants to answer prayers, He often answers through relationships. Your journey will be shortened if you know how to handle relationships and treat people well. Share on XWhen I knocked at her door that evening, I didn’t know what to expect. She welcomed me to her home and asked for a copy of my CV. Those were the days of floppy diskette, and I had my CV on one. I didn’t have time to print a copy, so I brought the floppy disk.
She collected it from me, inserted it into a desktop computer, and printed a copy of my CV.
The interview started in earnest.
She told me she was impressed and would like to work with me. When I asked who recommended me, she declined to tell me.
She wrote some comments on my CV and asked me to proceed to HR in Lagos. I went through a series of interviews which ended with the MD and I was hired. It’s one of the shortest interview processes I’ve ever attended. Everything was concluded that week.
The following Sunday, I was in church. After the service, a brother called my name and said he wanted to see me. He was a teacher in the children’s church. He also has a driving school and had taught my wife how to drive. The story he narrated made me lose my breath.
The previous Monday, he was on his way to work when he saw his cousin coming out of a house in Bodija. He had not seen this cousin in eight years. So it was quite surprising to see her in Ibadan when she actually lived in Lagos. After exchanging banters, this cousin told this brother that she came for an assignment in Ibadan.
She was asked to recruit Account Officers for a bank that was setting up a branch. She didn’t know anyone in Ibadan and had decided to fast that morning to ask for God’s guidance.
She is a devout Catholic. She ran into her cousin and believed he was an answer to her prayers.
When she asked if he knew any good Account Officer, he replied that he knew one that attended his church but was reluctant to release my phone details to her. She pleaded with him and he released my number on the condition that she wouldn’t reveal his identity. He then felt he should disclose to me all that happened. He did not even know the outcome of the phone call the lady gave me. I carried him up in excitement and thanked him profusely. I told him I got the job.
When God wants to answer prayers, He often answers through relationships. All Abraham had was a promise of many years until he met some ‘men’ whom he entreated to come into his home and gave them a sumptuous meal. Those ‘men’ activated the promise Abraham held for many years.
In less than a year, his Isaac arrived. The key to Naaman’s perfect cure for leprosy was a young maid in his house. The key to the elevation of Joseph was a fellow ex-con. Your journey will be shortened if you know how to handle relationships and treat people well.
Never look down on anyone. Be kind to others. Learn to place value on everyone that crosses your pat—rich, poor, strong, or weak—place a premium on them because everything rises and falls on relationships.
“Our rewards in life will always be in exact proportion to the amount of consideration we show toward others.” – Earl Nightingale