God Has the Last Word

When I realized that I had been excluded from attending my own project at a large conference in Europe, I complained and took it to God. “It is not fair, Lord. I had the idea, and now others will use it, and I am not even there. I’m out!” The Lord heard my prayer and answered me through a dream. It was a short dream, but it left a strong impression.

I saw one specific page from the Adventist Review of a year ago.

The next morning I looked for the magazine and found the page I had seen in my dream. It was an advertisement, and it meant I would need to prepare to travel.

It became necessary to discern whom I could trust from among the people around me because I knew I would need help. At that time, we all depended on snail mail, not email. It was in the early days of the internet, and it was not available in the heavily wooded area in which I lived. Someone would need to go to the city, about fifty miles (eighty kilometers) away, and collect all the mail for the workers, including me. Fortunately, I had some real friends who helped me. After some weeks, I took a flight to England. When the airplane was flying over the capital and preparing to land at Heathrow Airport, I prayed, “Oh, God, I’m in London! Thank You!” It took me a few attempts to reach Bracknell, but soon after arriving, I was able to attend Newbold College for a summer English course. Since I had arrived two days early, I was able to attend the conference of Seventh-day Adventist librarians. That was wonderful because, besides being an English teacher, I was also the librarian at the school where I worked.

While at Newbold, along with my classes, I enjoyed wonderful accommodation, food, and several trips throughout England. It was awesome! In addition to all that, when I arrived back home, I was invited to teach at the Federal University.

Yes, “we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God” (Romans 8:28, NLT). When others “intended to harm me, . . . God intended it all for good” (Genesis 50:20, NLT). My friends, God has the last word because He is all-powerful!

Het Jane Silva Carvalho