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May 21, 2019
Competing for a spot? Think again.
I had been preparing for my TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) exam for a while. This test was very important, because I had been studying English at the Congo American Language Institute, and I needed to have my language skills assessed so I could complete my coursework and graduate.
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My studying for the test was going fine, and I felt prepared and fairly calm. But then, a few weeks before test day, when I was trying to sign up for the exam, I couldn’t find a seat to take the test in my hometown. It seemed that the only option was to take the test in another city. That would be expensive, though, and there was no way I could afford it. I also didn’t want to delay taking the exam, because I needed the results not just to graduate, but also if I wanted to apply to university.
I couldn’t find a seat to take the test in my hometown.
Even though I was a bit worried, I was a Christian Science Sunday School student, and I knew there was something I could do. I could pray. Prayer is a way of understanding that God, who is good, really is in control of us in every situation, and understanding this brings needed adjustments to our lives.
I thought about this verse from the book of Psalms: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (23:1). Why is it that we can’t want for anything? Because our divine Shepherd, God, is Love, always loving and caring for us. I love what Mary Baker Eddy says about divine Love’s supply for all of us: “Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 494). It was so reassuring to remember that God supplies our every need, even when a situation seems hopeless. This includes a permanent place in His universe, which no one can take from us, and which we can’t take from anyone else. Since divine Love provides each of us with whatever we need at every moment, there is no competition for good of any kind. So I could see that the suggestion that there was no seat for me to take the test could not be the reality of the situation.
While it was tempting to ask God to fix things, I realized that I didn’t need to, because, as Mrs. Eddy writes, “God is not influenced by man. The ‘divine ear’ is not an auditory nerve. It is the all-hearing and all-knowing Mind, to whom each need of man is always known and by whom it will be supplied” (Science and Health, p. 7). I realized that my prayers were not so much about asking God for something, as about simply understanding and trusting Love’s provision for all of us. I became calm and felt God’s love for me and everyone.
It was so reassuring to remember that God supplies our every need, even when a situation seems hopeless.
I continued preparing for the test, leaving the rest to God and feeling so sure that something good would happen. And it did! Two weeks before the end of registration, I received an email telling me that new test rooms had been added for my city. This gave me the opportunity to sign up for the test with no additional expenses.
Isn’t it great when we trust God to take care of us? I keep learning more about God’s care, and that we really can have what we need without competing with anyone else.