WHEN THE RAIN REVEALED THE TRUTH.
There was once a clever but crooked businessman who lived near a busy trading route.
He was always looking for a shortcut to wealth.
One day, he noticed that wealthy foreign merchants paid a very high price for zebras because they were rare and beautiful in their homeland.
Instead of building an honest business, he came up with a deceptive plan.
He bought several ordinary donkeys and carefully painted black stripes on their bodies until they looked remarkably like zebras.
To his delight, the merchants were fooled.
They paid him handsomely, and his profits grew quickly.
As word spread, his "zebra business" flourished.
He built a larger house, wore expensive clothes, and proudly boasted about his success.
Many people admired him, not knowing that his wealth was built on deception.
One market day, at the peak of his booming business, he brought a large herd of freshly painted "zebras" to sell.
Merchants gathered from far and wide, eager to buy.
But that afternoon, dark clouds filled the sky.
Without warning, a heavy rainstorm broke out. The rain poured relentlessly upon the animals.
Slowly, the black paint began to run down their sides.
Before everyone's eyes, the beautiful "zebras" turned back into ordinary donkeys.
The crowd stood in shock.
The merchants realized they had been deceived.
Anger spread through the marketplace.
The businessman tried to explain, but it was too late.
The rain had exposed what his words could not hide.
That single storm destroyed years of dishonest gain.
His customers abandoned him.
His reputation collapsed.
His business failed.
The man learned a painful lesson:
"Deception may prosper for a season, but truth will eventually be revealed".
In life, character is more valuable than quick profit.
A lie may travel far, but the truth always catches up.
What is built on dishonesty cannot stand forever.
"For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad." - Luke 8:17 (KJV).
Boniface Amani Gichina (CPM)
