eBook
Available on Compatible NOOK devices, the free NOOK App and in My Digital Library.
Related collections and offers
Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781466957923 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Trafford Publishing |
| Publication date: | 09/19/2012 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 145 KB |
Read an Excerpt
Who's to Blame?
By Kali Molefi
Trafford Publishing
Copyright © 2012 Kali MolefiAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4669-5793-0
Chapter One
Misfortunes
Pastor Karabo: Good evening, Tumelo.
Tumelo: Good evening, Pastor Karabo.
Pastor Karabo: I have not seen you in church in two years. Where have you been?"
Tumelo: Moving here and there with no hope, direction, or interest in life.
Pastor Karabo: What happened, my son?
Tumelo: Life happened, Pastor, life happened!
Pastor Karabo: Do you want to talk about it?
Tumelo: It's a long story, and I don't want to bother you with my problems.
Pastor Karabo: Maybe I can help!
Tumelo: No one can help, Pastor.
Pastor Karabo: You talk like a person who has little faith in God.
Tumelo: Faith in God! What's the point? The very God is responsible for my misery.
Pastor Karabo: Surely you are hurt, my son!
Tumelo: I'm devastated, Pastor, I'm destroyed. God has turned against me, and I have no peace, no quietness. I have no rest but only turmoil."
Pastor Karabo: I see you quote and relate your story to that of Job! Then we need to go back to basics.
Tumelo: I don't need a lecture! I'm tired. I'm drained.
Pastor Karabo: What you need is not a lecture but the truth! I see you are in a hurry now Come to the church office tomorrow, and let's talk and see what the Word of God has to say about your situation.
Tumelo: I don't promise, Pastor, but I will try.
Pastor Karabo: Don't try, Tumelo! Do it!
Tumelo: See you then tomorrow at 10:00 a.m.
Pastor Karabo: Confirmed.
Tumelo: Good night, Pastor.
Pastor Karabo: Good night, my son!
Tumelo: Pastor Karabo, before I go, what do I need for tomorrow?
Pastor Karabo: Just yourself. You have to tell me your story in full, what went wrong, why is it that you blame God.
Tumelo: See you!
Next Day:
Pastor Karabo: Tumelo, it's only 8:45. You are early, but great, we start a little bit early.
Tumelo: I can come back at 10:00. It's just that I could not sleep, reflecting on what has happened to me and my family.
Pastor Karabo: Then you have made the right decision. There is a lot of work ahead of us. Tea or coffee?
Tumelo: Water will do.
Pastor Karabo: Only water? Are you health conscious?
Tumelo: I have to take care of my health. I have been sick latterly: neck pain, pain behind, above, and inside my right ear. It's so unbearable.
Pastor Karabo: Possibly stress! Why don't you go to the doctor?
Tumelo: I fear the worst: possible stroke, heart attack, or brain cancer. I would rather not know and just wait for my time.
Pastor Karabo: You are being irresponsible! What if you can be helped? What if it is not as bad as you think, and even if it's what you suspect, who says you can't be helped?
Tumelo: Let's get to today's business. Where do we start?
Pastor Karabo: From where it all started up to now.
Tumelo: Let me start by saying I knew that this day will come where God has turned his back against me and all going wrong.
Pastor Karabo: How so?
Tumelo: While all was well swimming in the pool of success and wealth, it became difficult for me to serve God, study his words, put him first in my life and in everything I did! And because of this, I lived with guilt and fear that one he will take it all and make me pay.
Pastor Karabo: So! That's why you are blaming him for your misfortune?
Tumelo: Of course, who should I blame? Satan?
Pastor Karabo: How about you, yourself?
Tumelo: What do you mean me? Are you blaming me?
Pastor Karabo: Let's not deviate or jump the gun! We'll discuss who to blame, but for now, I listen to your story.
Tumelo: OK, I will start.
Pastor Karabo: Before you start, let us pray for guidance. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this opportunity to reflect and seek answers from your word so that we can find the truth and make sense of our challenges. Amen.
Tumelo: One morning I took my car for a normal service. I dropped the car at the dealer around 9:00. At 12:00 noon I received a call from the dealer asking me to call the tracking company that I use to try a trace my car as my car has just been stolen at the dealer few minutes ago.
Pastor Karabo: Then what did you do?
Tumelo: I immediately called the tracking company, who then alerted the police of the stolen car, a white Dodge Nitro, a beautiful, aggressive machine.
Pastor Karabo: From the way you describe your car, I can tell you loved it.
Tumelo: I adored the machine, with no scratches, dents and had low mileage.
Pastor Karabo: Do you want another glass of water?
Tumelo: Please, Pastor! Where was I?
Pastor Karabo: Tracking story ...
Tumelo: An hour later the trackers and the police told me they have lost the trail. The thieves must have removed and destroyed the tracking device.
Pastor Karabo: Sad news. Did you open a case?
Tumelo: The dealer manager had already opened a case on my behalf since the incident took place in his premise.
Pastor Karabo: Did you claim with the insurance?
Tumelo: Yes, but I had to pay access of R8,000 ($1,000).
Pastor Karabo: Don't be discouraged. The Lord will bless you again.
Tumelo: It did not end there. While I was still dealing with the loss of my car, I had a strange call from one of my clients I supply with my herbal teas, who claimed that the tea did not taste the same, could not see good results from my product.
Pastor Karabo: And then?
Tumelo: I asked the client to return the products, and to my surprise, I discovered that our product has been faked.
Pastor Karabo: No, Tumelo!
Tumelo: I opened a case and did my own investigation and had a shock of my life when I discovered that my own PA (personal assistant) and her husband and our former driver have been faking my product and supplying my clients.
Pastor Karabo: Did you confront your PA?
Tumelo: I didn't have to. She gave me a letter of resignation even before I could suspect her or anyone. I hired a private investigator, who discovered that my PA and her partners in crime have been working with a big syndicate of herbal suppliers who were pushing and benefiting from the fake product. Furthermore, when they realized that there was an investigation, they went to all my clients claiming my product is a fake and is under investigation, and that affected our sales drastically, and users of my products become skeptical.
Pastor Karabo: People are ungrateful. You gave them jobs, but they were stealing from you.
Tumelo: These people where arrogant. They started panicking and using intimidation and threats to try and stop me from pursuing the case by sending people with guns to threaten my staff and also robbing and attacking my wife's stores, followed me with cars.
Pastor Karabo: Hectic stuff.
Tumelo: While dealing with this case, there was an attempt to steal one of my business cars by my own staff, but unfortunately that evening, I was at home and heard some sound outside, called the armed response company, who helped me save that car.
Pastor Karabo: So God saved your other car.
Tumelo: I don't know about that. Why couldn't he save my Dodge?
Pastor Karabo: You are ungrateful, Tumelo.
Tumelo: Please, listen at all my stories then you will understand where I'm coming from.
Pastor Karabo: Still.
Tumelo: Let me proceed!
Pastor Karabo: OK.
Tumelo: Few weeks later, my factory was broken into, and I lost computers, furniture, etc. And I then put a security guard, but still there was a second attempt, and I lost more though the security guard saved most of the staff by shooting in the air to scare the criminals.
Pastor Karabo: At least the guard was not harmed, and he saved most of your staff.
Tumelo: He failed to save all my staff.
Pastor Karabo: Why are you so attached to material things?
Tumelo: I've worked hard for them.
Pastor Karabo: Even then, you know as a believer, they are from God, and surely he will bless you again and again.
Tumelo: So must I be happy when I lose them?
Pastor Karabo: You must be grateful you had them. You must be grateful you still have some.
Tumelo: I'm grateful of what I had and have!
Pastor Karabo: So why are you so angry at God? Why do you blame him when you know he will bless you again?
Tumelo: I live in fear, thinking he will take all that I have.
Pastor Karabo: What else have you lost?
Tumelo: We experienced a gross theft at our stores.
Pastor Karabo: You mean the nine stores that you and your wife have?
Tumelo: Correct!
Pastor Karabo: Surely you should still generate enough income to meet your expenses and business needs.
Tumelo: Actually we are left with only two stores now!
Pastor Karabo: What happened to your other seven stores?
Tumelo: As I said, we were hit by gross theft of our stock and money by our own staff. Worse, the recession hit us so badly that we found ourselves in so much debt that those stores were no longer generating enough income to sustain themselves.
Pastor Karabo: Didn't you have a control system for stock money, etc?
Tumelo: Pastor, a research has shown that there are more than four hundred ways to steal. How many do you know? How many do I know?
Pastor Karabo: Continue.
Tumelo: As I speak to you, the remaining two stores are battling to pay the backlog of the debt caused by our nine stores, owing suppliers, credit cards, overdraft, retrenchment packages, tax, loans, leases, etc.
Pastor Karabo: Recession has hit everyone, not just you. At least you still have two stores. Other people's are closed completely.
Tumelo: So I'm ungrateful?
Pastor Karabo: You are too hard on yourself. You should count your blessings and thank the Lord.
Tumelo: At one stage I thought change is good. I need to invest in other things.
Pastor Karabo: So why don't you?
Tumelo: I did. I bought secondhand trucks to transport coal in the mines, and I found myself in more debt than before as I had six trucks. Now and then, the money generated went back into fixing trucks, paying diesel, dealing with mine strikes, waiting for weeks before the next stock pile is ready, etc.
Pastor Karabo: Tumelo, you had it rough. I understand your frustrations, anger, disappointments, but still, I don't understand why you blame God and not Satan or yourself for the decisions you made. But do not be discouraged. We both shall explore your situation and see who to blame, for what and whether, there is any way out of these situations.
Tumelo: I have even started having health issues. I know I've done lots of mistakes, but where is God who promised his children that he is forgiving, loving and answers our prayers and is gracious and merciful and that he will never leave us nor forsake us? You know, honestly I don't see myself surviving this year. I worry about my kids who are still young and my wife who still needs a companion.
Pastor Karabo: I have listened to you talk and remember Job's stories, and I relate to yours. We are going to explore his stories and others related from the Bible and compare them with yours and see if the god who helped his children yesterday, will he not do the same for you today? We start tomorrow. Bring your Bible and notebook. The real work starts! Good night for now.
Tumelo: Good night, Pastor.
Chapter Two
Man and His Decisions
Pastor Karabo: Morning, Tumelo, I hope you are ready and excited as I am to listen to what God has to say to us today. Would you like to pray?
Tumelo: Pastor, not that I mind, but honestly, I don't have the strength and the energy to pray, and I don't even know where to start, what to say.
Pastor Karabo: Let's close our eyes. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this opportunity and privilege to study your word and apply it to our current challenges. In Christ's name, our Lord. Amen.
Tumelo: Thank you!
Pastor Karabo: I have listened to your stories, sad as they may be, but with God nothing is impossible. You have been talking and I did most of the listening, but now, I need your undivided attention so that we both find solutions for your problems in the Word of God. Furthermore, my role is not to judge you, blame you, or criticize you but to firmly help you find and face the truth.
Tumelo: Am I allowed to question, disagree, and state my mind?"
Pastor Karabo: Of course. Remember, I don't hold the answers, but the Word of God does. Whatever statement we make, we must back it with the Word of God so that it is not from us but from his word.
Tumelo: I like that!
Pastor Karabo: We are going to look at you, Satan, and God in relation to your problems and motivate or justify with the Word of God who should take the blame for each individual's incident and why.
Tumelo: Who do we start with?
Pastor Karabo: You, I'm afraid.
Tumelo: All the better, I am sure there is very little you will find.
Pastor Karabo: Arrogance leads to misjudgment, my son! If you are honest with yourself, you will see, accept, realize how imperfect you are as a human being and how easy it is to pass the buck to or blame others when actually, to a great extent, you are the cause of your own misfortunes.
Tumelo: Shall we start?
Pastor Karabo: When we met the first night, you said you are devastated, destroyed, God has turned against you, and now you have no peace, quietness, rest but only turmoil, am I right?
Tumelo: True! I was quoting Job.
Pastor Karabo: You furthermore said, while swimming in wealth, it became difficult to serve God, study his word, put him first and, out of guilt, feared one day he will take your wealth! Correct?
Tumelo: Correct.
Pastor Karabo: Now because of your guilt, you have concluded that now God is making you pay as expected.
Tumelo: Is there any other explanation?
Pastor Karabo: Have you thought about, while you were drunk in a pool of wealth, you started making some of the wrong, careless, and foolish decisions, which God has nothing to do with?
Tumelo: Such as what?
Pastor Karabo: Let's start with your stores. If you had a control system, how come it took you long to see that you were losing stock or money from your stores, or are you going to blame God for not being a security guard over your stock or money? Whose responsibility is it to look after things that God blesses us with? God? Or you? From your monthly report, cash flow, day-end report, were you not able to see that you were losing money or stock, and if you knew very little about how the business runs, why didn't you do a basic course on financial control or management or ask for help? Yet you blame God for your ignorance and laziness.
Tumelo: I trust my staff.
Pastor Karabo: Tumelo, does being a Christian mean you stop using your common sense?
Tumelo: I thought I had a good team.
Pastor Karabo: How is it God's fault that you where losing so much stock and money? Who was negligent? God or you?
Tumelo: Maybe it's me.
Pastor Karabo: Maybe, Tumelo?
Tumelo: I get your point, Pastor.
Pastor Karabo: No, I don't think you do. You see yourself as a victim in this situation and that it cannot be you, and I am surprised that you are not blaming Satan as well.
Tumelo: I do blame him too for bringing these misfortunes and making life difficult for us.
Pastor Karabo: What about you, Tumelo, what about your decisions and the choice you made?
Tumelo: I try to do well. I care for others, I am considerate, I give, I pray, I fast, I don't steal, I help those who are sick, I love my family, friends, relatives, and neighbors.
Pastor Karabo: You are deviating as usual, avoiding the real question. What about you, Tumelo, are you not accountable or responsible for the decisions you make or its consequences? You talk about your good work. I'm talking about your decisions, who is responsible and accountable for them. Later we will explore your good works, but for now we focus on your decisions, right?
Tumelo: Right!
Pastor Karabo: Let's go back to when your factory was broken into. Don't you have an alarm system or cameras?
Tumelo: Yes, an alarm system which works on and off!
Pastor Karabo: So your alarm system was not working properly?
Tumelo: Yes.
Pastor Karabo: And you knew that?
Tumelo: I guess.
Pastor Karabo: And you did nothing about it.
Tumelo: I never thought they will break in.
Pastor Karabo: If that's the case, why did you put it in the first place?
Tumelo: To provide security.
Pastor Karabo: How?
Tumelo: Pastor, I know I made a mistake. I should have been more responsible.
Pastor Karabo: You made a foolish mistake, moron, and you have a nerve to blame God and Satan for your mess.
Tumelo: I should have been more careful.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Who's to Blame? by Kali Molefi Copyright © 2012 by Kali Molefi. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Acknowledgments....................ixDear Reader....................x
Introduction....................xi
Chapter 1: Misfortunes....................1
Chapter 2: Man and His Decisions....................11
Chapter 3: Satan and His Tricks....................144
Chapter 4: God and His Grace....................206
Chapter 5: Lessons Learned....................270