Overwhelmed but Not Cast Down
By Heather-Dawn Small
Working from home has been a blessing and sometimes a headache. Sometimes too many things are going on at the same time and that leads to a somewhat chaotic situation. During early September 2020 was one of those times. I was preparing for my doctoral comprehensive exam and working on the final changes to my proposal by a specific deadline. My husband’s older sister was also moving into our home after the loss of her husband. We were moving around rooms to open up a free room for her and so the upstairs of our home was in a state of confusion with furniture, etc. in the hallway and piled up in one room or the other. I was also working on a deadline for a licensure exam for my husband.
As the day for my comprehensive exam drew nearer, I was feeling overwhelmed and over-stressed. So, I prayed, and I kept praying each moment of those frenzied, hectic days. I also reached out to a few family and friends to intercede on my behalf. With God’s help I completed my proposal and the following day I took the exam. Ten hours, 4 questions to answer. Each answer no less than 20 typed pages. I prayed even more. All through the exam I kept praying for my Father to impress on me the location of a particular answer in a given textbook. He came through each time. It was the longest 10 hours of my life!
After the exam was over, I knew I was going to fail. I felt overwhelmed by the information I thought I did not know and how inadequate I believed my answers were. But God gave me peace over the Sabbath. Monday morning the email arrived letting me know I had passed. I wanted to dance on the ceiling with joy. Instead I shouted my praises and scared my poor sister-in-law but soon she joined in with my praise.
Sometimes life is more than we can handle. But God is able to handle all things and He will and does see us through them if we trust and believe. My favorite verse, Phil. 4:13. This promise, and the prayers of others kept me going through those chaotic and crazy days. Thank you, Lord.
Heather-Dawn Small is Women’s Ministries Director for the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
World Church Prayer Requests
October 23 - 29, 2020
• Please pray for those still in the path of this fall’s wildfires. This past week in Loveland Colorado in the United States, both Voice of Prophecy and Eden Valley Institute staff had to evacuate due to the largest wildfire in Colorado history. The fire still rages near the borders of these properties. Pray for these special Adventist ministries, that God will continue to be their shield and protector.
• Pray for those around the globe who have lost crops or livelihood due to fire, flood, COVID, or other natural disasters this summer and fall. Pray for God’s supernatural provision.
• Pray for local government leaders. The Bible tells us that God puts leaders in position and He takes them down that His purposes may be accomplished.
• Pray for this week’s Adventist Mission unreached people group, the Uyghurs. Perhaps you’ve never heard of them, but there are nearly 11 million Uyghurs who live in Asia. Only 0.008% of Uyghurs believe in Jesus. May the Holy Spirit work powerfully among this unreached people group.