The Silent Listener

Many days during my time as a professional graduate student, I saw God’s hand at work in my schedule and assignments. During registration I joined the waiting list for two sections of a course. The registrar’s office notified me of the section I was placed in, but I believe it was Abba who chose the right section for me. During the first week of classes, the instructor informed us that our evaluation for certification was scheduled for the first Sunday of our spring break. He admonished us to mark our calendars because attendance was mandatory if we wanted to be certified as mediators. On the Sunday of our certification session, I overheard one classmate explaining to another that the other section of the course had their evaluations the day before, and they did not complete the process until 2:30 p.m.

It was then I realized that Abba had orchestrated my schedule so that I was in the section that was evaluated on Sunday instead of the section evaluated on Sabbath. One Friday evening I was rushing home, eager to begin Sabbath preparations.

I stopped to help a friend who needed to complete an assignment before sunset. I forgot that I needed to send two emails to my mentors, letting them know of my availability to do observations the following week. A few minutes before sunset, one of the mentors emailed me to ask if I was interested and available to do an observation at 8:30 a.m. on Monday morning. I responded in the affirmative, and during the observation, he offered me three additional observations for the same week. One of the observation sessions had to be canceled as a participant did not show up. However, the information gleaned while waiting was exactly what I needed to make an informed decision about which course I should register for during summer school. These three incidents reminded me of the value of praying instead of worrying. When we place our trust in God, He can listen to our prayers and the desires of our hearts.

Our faith and trust in Him then permit Him to work all things together for our good.

Desrene L. Vernon