Never Alone

 "Aaargghhh!" Janet groaned in frustration and slapped her textbook shut. She had been reading the textbook in the last one hour and nothing was making sense. Not the notes. Not the calculations. Nothing.

She glanced at her To-do list and tears almost welled up in her eyes. There were still three assignments she was yet to do. Assignments she didn't even know how to solve. Assignments that were due next week... To make matters worse, exams were in two weeks. How the heck was she supposed to cover the syllabus when her understanding of her courses was slower than the pace of a tortoise? 

She needed a battle plan. She had written exams in the past and succeeded. This time shouldn't be different. She flipped to a fresh blank page in her jotter and was about to draw yet another timetable when she heard her mother call her from downstairs.

"Janet!" 

Janet's heart sank. "Yes mummy!"

"Pastor Francis and his wife will be visiting us this evening. Put something on fire for them."

"Mummy!" Janet pleaded. "I have exams coming up... there's so much I've not done...Can't someone else do it?"

Her mother gave her a look that discouraged her from saying anything further. "Who is the somebody that should do it?" She said sarcastically. "Your dad that is in a Zoom meeting or me that just came back from the market? And you know your brother can't cook."

"It's high time he learned." Janet grumbled under her breath. Everything in her wanted to revolt, to complain her way out of it. But she knew it wasn't worth it. Her mother was right. She was still the one that would do it at the end of the day. She sighed and went to start the arduous task in front of her. 

As she rinsed the rice, she remembered a verse she had read in her quiet time this morning. "Behold, I am with you always. Even to the end of the world." Matthew 28:30

The Scripture was like an anchor she could hold onto right now. She needed someone who understood what she was going through, even when no one did. And there was only One person capable of doing that.

"JESUS, I need your help more than ever before." She whispered into the silence of the kitchen. "The more I study, the more I feel left behind. I'm not catching up Lord and I've tried everything. There's so much to read, the tests and assignments...they keep coming one after the other. If I continue this way, I know I won't do well in the exams. Please help me. I seriously need your help."

She didn't get any reply immediately, but a song filtered into her mind and as she put an empty pot on the cooker, she sang without restriction.

"God is my Refuge and Strength. My very present help in trouble."

 The song had just two lines, but it was working wonders in her troubled heart. It was reminding her of a truth that God did not want her to ever let go of.

Hours later, when the visitors had come and gone, and when everyone was fast asleep, that particular song had not left her heart and lips. It reverberated in her soul until she realized that God dropped that song in her heart so she could come and be still in His Presence. 

So she prayed that night and handed everything over to God. She realized she was being a Martha, overly worried and trying to figure things out by herself, instead of being a Mary who had mastered the art of just sitting still in the presence of God and allowing Him help her draw the battleplan for success in her examinations.

No loud voice descended from Heaven telling her what to do next, but after her prayer, everything became suddenly clearer. She knew what to do, how to cope. She brought out her jotter again, and drew a timetable. As she scribbled, it felt as if the Holy Spirit was standing behind her shoulder, guiding her thoughts and hands.

She would do house chores in the morning/early afternoon, attend her online classes, which were mostly in the afternoon, then take a nap. God also gave her the idea of forming a study group and how each session should go. She wrote down the names of two serious people she knew she could get involved with and study together with them via a Watsapp group or Zoom call... Then she would pray in the evenings, and have one more hour of leisure before she returned to her books in the night to study before sleep came for her.

"Wow," Janet exhaled when she was done. She looked down at the battleplan God had literally drawn for her and smiled.

She didn't have to do this alone. Not when God was more than willing to be in on this with her. A heavy weight lifted off her chest...She would cope. Because she was never alone.

God was with her.

Give it to God, Beloved. Then rest assured. He's got you.🤗❤️