A Woman Who Humbled to Conquer - Lawrence B Abitogun

This is a true-life inspirational story of a christian child of God, how his wife humbled herself, prayerfully and trusting in the Lord, patiently allowed the Holy Spirit to take total control of the storm that raged their marriage. Story told by husband.

From childhood to adult

All my life, I have always seeing myself as one having passion for the word of God. When I was young, I remember I always like to stay with the catechist who is in charge of the church in our village. One other thing I remember is that my father would not restrain me from going there to sleep. Though my father was an illiterate, he cannot but conduct morning devotion in our house. He trained us in the way of the Lord.

When I finished my elementary school in our village, as it pleases the Lord, I got admission into a Christian high school. There, we were trained in the way of the Lord. Besides the education, one thing I will always remember that I obtained in the school is the ability to pray with fasting and the in filling of the spirit of God. The six years I spent in tertiary institution, North Texas State University, Denton TX, where I obtained a bachelor and a Masters degree, was off the track of my Christian race. However, I manage to live a life in the fear of God, doing things in the fear of God and always believing that God is watching over me. Therefore, to the best of my ability, capability and level of faith, I tried to do what was right.

After school challenges

After I finished in the university, I went back to my country to work. In the first seven years of my working experience, I was a teacher in the secondary school. Four years of these seven years, I was a vice-principal. In the quest for a higher paid work, I ended up working for my uncle as a manager in his company for the next fourteen and a half years.

What happen to my Christian life?

When I got back to my country, I was attending the former orthodox church, which I grew up to know, the church where my father in-planted us. At this older age, the church seems not to be as glorious as it used to be. I did not feel the impact of the Holy Spirit neither did I see any changes from what it used to be. The church became a napping place within the two hours worshiping time. Then I have the desire to look for a spirit-filled church where I would be able to grow spiritually. When you go to a church that is not spirit-filled, you will lack the knowledge and will of God. You will feel as if you are wasting your time going to the church, and you will never come to realize the joy and happiness that one gets in the presence of God. When you lack the word of God, you are not very far from backsliding. To be able to make my passion become reality, there is the need to look for a church that can bring me closer to God.


We attended the Orthodox Church for two years before my wife and I found a white garment church where we would worship for the next eight years. The white garment church (one of the African institutional churches), is a praying church, but mostly lacks the word of God. They are too ritualistic. When it comes to praying and fasting, they are one of the best. However. Most of their prayers does not lead one to live a holy and a godly life, but for victory on worldly matters. Prayer is good, but is one of the seven things that draw one nearer to God. The other six things are Truth, Righteousness, Evangelism, Faith, Salvation and Word of God. All these seven virtues help one to live a holy life that draws one nearer to God.

For the eight years I worshiped in this church, there was never a day that preaching or sermon touches fornication. No wonder, fornication is very rampant in many African institutional and Pentecostal churches today. I would rather say that the ministers and elders in these churches are the propagators of this evil. Within those eight years, I fell into the sin of fornication. I would continue to battle this deadly sin for the next two years after I had left the church. If the ministers and elders were into this sin, what prevented me from engaging in the same thing? The infection runs down from the altar (Ps. 133: 2).  If I have the knowledge of the sin properly, I would not engage in it only, but I would even check the ministers and elders also.

The appearances of the wages of sin

At first, my wife did not suspect me of engaging in this act, but she was never comfortable with the white garment church from the very point that holiness and godliness were not preached often. My wife left the church after her sixth year there. She saw what I did not see; she left me behind. She could not convince me enough to know that we were in the wrong place.

After six years we have been in that church, we relocated to another town. However, I was still coming from my new station to worship in this church. When my wife discovered my infidelity, the wages of sin manifest. The longstanding love, peace, joy, happiness, harmony, unity, temperament, kindness, understanding, togetherness and sharing in the family broke down. Instead of enjoying our marriage, we were managing and enduring. This would continue for the next four years. While I was enjoying the evil delicacy derived from worldly enjoyment of fornication, my wife would be in anguish of managing her heartbeat to cope with the situation.

For two years, I would go to this church to worship, while my wife and my children would worship in our new station. After a while, my wife found a new church. A Pentecostal church, a bible studying church and a church were holiness and godliness is placed above any earthly things. Each time my wife comes back from any church program; she would feed me with what she learned from that program. This is the only way she thought she could win me back to the Lord. It is good to have a wife always seeking for the wisdom of God to help her situation. She knew that I love anything that has to do with the word of God. Each time she fed me with what she learned, I was always grateful. Though I was into sin, however, when I see or hear what can help me to get out of my sinful nature. I always embrace it.

I began to love the new church that my wife found. I decided to be attending the Bible study class and the miracle hour every week. However, come Sunday, I would be on my way to worship in my old station, all for the purpose of committing the sin of fornication. While I would be away to my white garment church, my wife and my children would be worshiping in our new station. Each time I was away, I knew my wife would not be happy. However, members of the new church were always around to pray with her.  The Bible says, “The prayer of the righteous availeth much” Whenever I come back from the old station, she would welcome me with love even for the fact that she knew I would have committed fornication. God bless her.

Comfort disappeared and fear griped my life

Every time I am away to the old station, I felt for those that I left behind. This started to give me a big concern. My mind tells me that my wife must be waiting for the day I would say bye to the old church. Whenever I come home, I was always overwhelmed with fear. Thinking what my wife would say or what she would be thinking, if I say anything, how would she reply? There was war in my heart. I wanted peace, but who will deliver me from this power of sin that griped me?

One day, as usual, I dressed up in my white garment; I was on my way to my old station, one quarter the distance away from my new station, the Holy Spirit arrested me. I was driving with one of my brothers with me. All of a sudden, my mind was heavy and the spirit would not allow me to go further, not knowing that my wife and the church members were praying for me at that particular moment. I parked my car on the curbside of the road and I told my brother to come off the car. I sent a message through him to that woman of fornication that she would not see me for that day. He took a public transportation to my old station while I turned back to my new station to join my family in the new church.

What a joy!

On getting back to my new station, I went back home to change to a normal dress and join my family in the church. To their surprise and dismay, my wife and children saw me, and I looked at them, we all smiled simultaneously. What a joy. The smile on my wife’s face was deep and I felt a big relief in my heart, like someone that was loosed from bondage. From that time, I never went back to the old church; and I ceased to visit the woman of fornication. From that moment on, the joy of the Lord returned to my home. My wife and the congregation of the children of God never cease to pray for my deliverance. My wife humbled herself and depends on God throughout the storm that raged her matrimonial home, she conquered.