Ask Abba First

“Do you have a Scripture for every decision you make?” This is the question I heard quite often from a pastor serving at a Seventh-day Adventist Church in Maryland, USA, where I worshiped. Since then I have tried to let God’s Word lead in all my decisions. One day I received a call from the first elder of my church. He informed me that I had been nominated to serve as an elder. My initial reaction was to decline because I disliked attending board meetings. I said to him, “Let me think and pray about that, and I will get back to you.” As the day wore on, Abba drew my attention to one Scripture in three different photos stored on my cellphone. The images were taken three days apart, almost four years earlier.

The Scripture records Jesus saying, “With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26, NASB). In the first picture, I noticed the Scripture on a faceplate covering a light switch. I had taken the photograph while visiting someone’s home.

Now as I looked at it, I could hear Abba saying, Go ahead, turn the light on. I dismissed it, still resistant to the idea. As I continued to scroll, the very next picture was a page from one of my journals. I felt like I was running from something and running toward it at the same time. The journal entry contained excerpts from a book I read by Barry Black, and the section was titled “What do you fear the most?” It was based on a conversation that Pastor Black had with a minister. As I pondered the minister’s response, the imprint on the page of my journal caught my attention. I had written, “With God all things are possible.” Later that day I returned to my phone for an encouraging message to send a friend.

I noticed a picture of her old business card and decided I would send it to her as a reminder to hold on to the dreams that were deferred.

When I opened the image file, her tagline said, “Nothing Is Impossible.” At that moment I paused, realizing that Abba had shown me the same Scripture in three different forms on the same day. He had spoken to my fears and assured me that with God, all things are possible. The answer was clear, and with that, I said yes to the request to serve.

Desrene L. Vernon