Just Back From Hell And The Rebirth!

THAT fateful Tuesday afternoon, Prince Shina Hastrup settled down in his beautiful and sophisticated duplex to eat his favourite lunch meal. He had sent his driver and cook on an errand. So, he was the only one at home. His business office wasn’t so far away from his affluent Estate. He loved to have his afternoon meal without distraction. Indeed, it was a sumptuous and rich food, and a bottle of costly Italian wine was also on his dining table to sweeten his palate.

What do you expect of a mega rich businessman? He was about eating his food without any inkling of danger or calamity.

Hastrup was generous, good and he was a nice man. In fact, he was nice to a fault. He was a humble, peace-loving and kind gentleman. To crown it all, he was very God-fearing. That very year he celebrated his 53rd birthday amid pomp and pageantry and millions of naira was spent with the presence of notable dignitaries and bigwigs in the country and beyond these shores.

Without much ado, he smacked his lips and started eaten. Unfortunately, the first morsel he took went the wrong way and wanted to choke him to death. He couldn’t breathe normally and his intestine or stomach was in a terrible state of confusion.

Instantly, he began to sweat and his eyes dilated with fear. His head and belly was temporarily lifeless. He was battling between life and death within seconds. He couldn’t talk, sit or stand on his feet. In a flash, he knew death was around the corner to claim him to God knows where.

He was shivering and shaking in the twinkling of an eye. ‘So this is how death would snatch me away from this beautiful world?’ he seemed to ask himself in a split second. His head was crowded with morbid thoughts of death, Armageddon and hell!

‘So, this is how a good, rich man would die a painful death after all?’ he asked himself again. He didn’t know when painful tears streamed down his cheeks. Hastrup shed tears of sorrow reluctantly the following seconds. Really, no one had left this earth and gone to the great beyond and come back to tell us how heaven or paradise looks. It’s in our imaginations that heaven is beautiful but nobody had been there and back to give us actual details of how it looks. Everybody wants to go to heaven but no one wants to die. The afterlife still remains a great mystery till today.

Hastrup was still struggling with death. In a jiffy, a power greater than him lifted him up from the dining chair and he staggered towards his living room. He was torn between the devil and the deep blue sea. He fell down on a couch and he staggered up again breathlessly.

He was confused and knew that his time was definitely up even when he was still bubbling with life. He had not even written his will. His heartbeats thumped against his chest at an alarming rate, ‘Death and the devil are callous and wicked!’ he reasoned regretfully.

He heard a word, from the deepest recesses of his soul that he should stagger towards his bathroom. He summoned courage, with his last strength and headed towards the bathroom. He collapsed on the way but he stood up again.

By a stroke of luck he found himself in the bathroom. He managed to grab the shower and a plastic containing water and with his last strength he poured the water on his head. He drank the water speedily and simultaneously splashed it on his head as if he was bathing.

Somehow, the amazing grace of the Almighty God took control and he started regaining his breathe gradually.

Seconds later, his whole body, which had been like a troubled ocean some few minutes ago calmed down and he became composed and settled. He was now aware that he was alive and wouldn’t die again! It was amazing to him that he had now bounced back to good and sound health!

He strolled back to his living room amid praises and thanks to the Almighty God for given him another lease of life. He couldn’t believe what had just happened! He had a renewed faith in God and in His mercies. What had just happened to him was inexplicable and awesome!

‘Only the wonderful powers of the Almighty God could have saved one from such snares of death!’ he wondered. He praised God the way he had never done before. He went back to his meal of fried eggs, sliced bread, Sardine and other mouth-watering delicacies. He sat down and munched it carefully.

Fifteen minutes later he was through with his food. Then he drank his much-loved Italian wine to wash it down. He became closer to God as from that day and doing whatever pleases Him. This experience taught him that the Almighty God is the Author and Finisher of our faith and that we are mere dust in His presence.

It also taught him that the Creator is the giver of life, the Alpha and the Omega.

When Hastrup’s beautiful wife came home that evening he narrated what happened to her and his four children. His wife was full of thanks to God for sparing the life of her loving, tall, handsome and kind husband.

At the next Thanksgiving service at his place of worship Hastrup doled out more millions of naira to the spread of the Word and the Holy Scriptures and to the glory of God. After this near-death experience Hastrup became more humane, kind and generous to fellow human beings.

His business boomed and he became a multi-billionaire the following year. He became happier for the joy, protection and good health of his entire family by the infinite grace of the living God.

The ebullient Prince lived to the ripe old age of 99 before his transition to the great beyond. His business empire is still being handled by his four able and hardworking children. The legacy he left behind was too great and humongous to be wished away. His footprints still stand tall in the sands of time till today.