KINGDOM DIVIDED
Segun Iwasanmi@iwasanmisegun212159
22 days ago
Written by :Segun Iwasanmi
Chapter 1: A Kingdom in Chaos
The harmattan wind howled through the land of Erelu, kicking up dust and whispering old secrets through the cracks in the palace walls. The golden crown sat on King Olatunde’s head, but it did not sit well. It never had. He had worn it for years, yet every time he placed it upon his head, he felt the weight of something missing—something stolen.
In the marketplace, whispers wove through the air like smoke from the blacksmith’s forge.
"The crown is broken, and so is the kingdom."
"Since the piece was stolen, nothing has remained the same."
"The land no dey yield crops like before. War fit break out any day from now."
Olatunde heard the murmurs even within the palace walls. His advisors no longer hid their worried glances. His mother, the dowager queen, had taken to fasting endlessly, clutching her Bible as if she could wring an answer from its pages. The priests at the shrine continued their rituals, offering their strange incense and sacrifices, yet peace remained elusive.
Olatunde did not really put his trust in them. He had been raised to know that the true God neither slumbered nor required the blood of animals. But why then did it feel as if God had turned His back on him?
----
One evening, after another heated council meeting where his war general had, once again, advised him to fortify their borders, Olatunde retreated to the palace courtyard. The moon hung low in the sky, its light a pale imitation of what it once was. He sat on the stone bench, rubbing his temples.
"Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest" (Genesis 28:15).
His father had quoted that scripture often, but Olatunde no longer felt kept.
A sudden rustling from behind made him turn. His mother stood there, frail yet commanding, as she always had been.
“Olatunde,” she called softly.
“Maami.” He stood, offering her a seat.
She did not take it. Instead, she looked at the night sky, her eyes reflecting the same weight that pressed upon him. “You are troubled.”
Olatunde scoffed. “The whole kingdom is troubled.”
His mother nodded slowly. “And you think this is God’s punishment?”
The question hit him like a spear to the chest. “Do the people not say so?” He let out a bitter chuckle. “The crops fail. The rivers dry. Bandits roam freely. Some say it all started when the crown was broken.”
“Superstition,” his mother dismissed, but even she did not sound fully convinced.
Olatunde exhaled. “Then why has God remained silent?”
The dowager queen placed a firm hand on his shoulder. “Maybe it is not He that is silent, but you that has not truly listened.”
Olatunde stiffened. “I pray. I rule justly. I have done all that is expected of me.”
His mother gave him a long look, the kind that saw straight through his soul. “Ruling justly is not the same as ruling with faith. When was the last time you knelt, not as a king, but as a son?”
----
The words unsettled him. He opened his mouth to respond, but a sudden commotion at the palace gates made them both turn. A messenger ran in, his tunic torn, his face streaked with dust and sweat.
“My King!” the man gasped, doubling over. “The eastern border—it's under attack!”
Olatunde clenched his fists. Another battle. Another crisis. Another proof that the gods of this land had abandoned him.
Or perhaps, just perhaps, it was time he stopped seeking the gods of this land—and sought the one true God instead.
---
To be continued in Chapter two...
MORAL REFLECTION:
The world teaches us to rely on power, logic, and strategy, but faith demands surrender. When trouble comes, do we try to fix things in our strength, or do we truly seek God’s voice? “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).
The king had ruled well, yet he had not ruled with faith. And as he might soon learn, a kingdom without faith is a kingdom already divided.
