Onoriode: Who Knows Tomorrow?
My late grandmother named me Onoriode, meaning ‘Who Knows Tomorrow?’ Nobody knows tomorrow.
I am David Oletu; I was that once-despised angel who is now a blessing to my generation and more generations to come.
Never despise today and those around you for their situations.
My grandmother also named me Ogheneromesuo, meaning ‘It is God that Leads Me’. God is in charge of our lives.
He will do those great things He wants to do in people’s lives, no matter their situation, and He will lead them accordingly, just as He did for me.
Onoriode: Who Knows Tomorrow?
My mother once said that the names my grandmother gave me are in line with my history.
Grandmother could not see well with her eyes, but it was as though she had seen my future right from when I was born;
and had always whispered to my ears that I should never mind the negative words society comments about my deviant – funny appearance,
also, to be rest assured that I would eventually be a blessing to them and many nations.
“But come to think of it,
if society doesn’t embrace, honour, and appreciate me, how will I comfortably bless them with the gifts God has given me?”
I had always wondered while growing up as a child.
After all, despite how Jesus was able to perform so many miracles outside, no one from His hometown could receive them from Him because they did not honour Him.
Likewise, this is how society makes a mockery of and abuses God’s blessings and ends up not enjoying such blessings.
Angels exist among us, but many of us dishonour them,
despising their presence, because they don’t look as perfect as we all probably imagined what the celestial beings should look like.
Onoriode: Who Knows Tomorrow?
I was born with a rare condition that made me an object of mockery among my peers and society.
Stunted growth! Small bowlegs! Big head! Early Morning and Evening Steroid User! Strange Human…!
Was it my fault that I was born that way? No! I never chose to live that kind of life.
And I wouldn’t say it is God’s will to see His children not live a healthy life.
However, does society help matters? No!
Society does not understand how children who were born differently (with certain rare conditions) will feel if society doesn’t show love to them and doesn’t see the best in them.
Society does not understand that love aids the healing process of every broken child with a rare condition.
They are only excited about how strange such a child looks and laugh at the moment, not realizing that those children have an inner pain that needs to be healed with love.
I am one of those special children.
I was bullied right from when I was just a little boy, to a teenager, to date.
Such experiences affected my self-esteem while I was growing up, not making me perform well in areas where I ought to be seen shining.
It also affected my mood, making me always angry and depressed.
Society never knew they were inflicting more pain on me; rather, they saw it as a joy to them, bullying and insulting that special child with a special need.
Onoriode: Who Knows Tomorrow?
But then, like the message my grandmother had always tried to pass across to humanity through the names she had given me,
“never look down on or make a mockery of God’s precious creations.
You don’t know tomorrow.
Let God lead and do His glorious works and wonders through them.
I am David Oletu; I was that once-despised angel who is now a blessing to my generation and more generations to come.
If you have a special child like me around you, never see the worst in them, but see the best in them.
Love goes a long way in bringing them out of their hard and dark shell and enabling them to take a step into greatness.
And if you are that special child who is like my former self, struggling to find meaning in life, I want you to know that God has deposited a special gift in you.
If you deprive us of such gifts, you not only disappoint those whose destinies are connected to the light you carry,
but you also disappoint God, who expects more from you from the talents He has given you.
Close your ears to distractions that only bring fear, timidity, anger, and hatred to your hearts.
That is the devil at work. He tries to use your trying times and circumstances to make you his puppet.
God has not created you to be limited, but limitless.
And God has not created you to be ordinary, but extraordinary.
Moreover, God has not created you to be a ‘nobody’ but to do greater works, just as He did while on earth.
Only a bastard sees himself as a nobody, therefore making himself to be the devil’s puppet when he has a Father who is above all.
God has not created you to be less human but a supernatural being.
The Almighty God has not created you to dwell in darkness but to shine as the light that you are.
And God has given us the spirit of boldness to do great exploits.
Focus on the divine assignment.
Joy and love live where God dwells. And you will agree with me that God dwells in you.
Rejoice in this understanding and begin to see yourself just as He is.
Onoriode: Who Knows Tomorrow?
