Whatever the Test...Trust in Him

“Rachel, you’re next!”

My turn had come. The moment I had been preparing for the past four months was here. My heart pounded and my mouth felt as if I hadn’t had a drink for 24 hours. I followed the man who had called my name to the door of the testing room.

One of the testing rooms for Bible Bee Oral Rounds 

“Do your best!” he smiled as I entered the room. My mind was whirling. I felt cold. I was both very excited and very nervous. As I walked up to the front of the room, I looked around for my Dad. Our eyes met and he gave me thumbs up and an encouraging look. I got to the front of the room and stood in front of the table as I had been instructed. My judges, a man and woman, sat behind the table. The woman smiled and handed me the headset. I took it and put it on, adjusting the microphone so it was in the correct position.

She began to give me my instructions for the oral test. “You have up to 5 minutes to quote up to 3 passages. Don’t feel like you need to rush because you will have plenty of time.”

“Yes,” I thought to myself. “Do. Not. Rush!” I let out a slight nervous sigh as she finished giving me 

my instructions.

“When you’re ready, just state your name and the Bible version you will be using.”

I sent up one more prayer for strength and focus. I had to quote these three passages of scripture with as few mistakes as possible, with about thirty people listening to me! I didn’t know what three passages I would be reciting…only that they would be 3 out of the 205 passages I had memorized for the 2015 National Bible Bee. These 205 passages totaled up to over 800 individual verses and the passages all varied in length from 1 verse to 22 verses! And while I had worked diligently to memorize and perfect these verses the last 3 months, I still had those passages I struggled with. I hoped I would not receive one of those passages, but I knew all I could do was my best in God’s

Bethany, Emily, Bella, and I: waiting for testing to begin

strength. And here I was, ready to take my oral test at Nationals 2015.

Somehow, I found my voice.  

“Rachel C-----, King James Version.”

Ready or not, here I go!

The woman gave me my first reference and started the timer. “Please recite: Romans five, one through eleven.”

Taking a deep breath, I shut my eyes and began, in a shaky voice, to recite the given passage. “Romans five, one through eleven. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also…”

I quoted the passage, not too fast, but not too slow either…thinking about each word. God showed Himself strong! Just before my oral round, I had a practice session in our room with Daddy, quoting verses and warming up so my mind was “in motion”. During that practice session, I had quoted this passage, and had a brain freeze - forgetting how the passage continued at one point in the middle of it. Because of that, I had gone over this passage several times. Now, I was quoting that same passage, which was fresh in my mind, and I didn’t blank! Praise God!

“…we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. Romans five, one through eleven.”

One down, two to go!

“John twenty, twenty-four through thirty one”, was the next passage I was given to recite.

I swallowed hard. This was one of those passages I had struggled with. But a couple weeks before Nationals, I had found a pattern to the saids and saiths that had confused me, and added hand motions. That helped tremendously. If I focused and used my motions, I could quote it right most of the time. I practiced it often. And here I was: needing to quote this passage for my oral recitation. I knew it was possible, but I must really focus under the pressure. “Lord, help me,” I silently prayed.

“John twenty, twenty-four through thirty-one. But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails…”

Waiting for Opening Ceremony to begin the first evening.
So much fun! ^_^

I was here to do my best. As I quoted the passage, I used my hand motions, careful thinking about each word before I pronounced it. I came to the last two verses, which were especially good ones…

“And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, and that believing ye might have life through His name. John twenty, twenty-four through thirty-one.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, for as far as I knew at that point, I felt like I had kept it all straight! Praise the Lord! Two passages down, one to go.

The woman gave me my final passage. “Please recite: Psalm sixteen.”

 “Psalm sixteen. Preserve me, O God, for in Thee do I put my trust. O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord…”

This passage was a favorite, and I knew it well. Like Romans 5:1-11, I had quoted this prior in my warm up session with my Dad. God allowed me to have one last run-through of the Psalm.  I also remember, that day, walking down the hallway to go somewhere, and I held a portion of my verse cards in my hand, reading this Psalm. I had reviewed it then, too!

I emphasized the familiar words…

“…Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Psalm Sixteen.”

I took a deep breath. I opened my eyes. I was done. As I removed the headset with shaking hands, the woman congratulated me and said I may go sit down. My eyes welled up with tears of happiness and relief, and through the applause of the crowd, I made my way back to where Daddy was sitting. He gave me a hug.

I sat there and sent up a prayer of thanksgiving to my Heavenly Father. God had girded me with strength, and had made my way perfect.¹ I had quoted all three of my passages with no passes, no word prompts, and no tongue twist-ups. Glory to HIS name!  I had trusted Him to help me, and He did!

Closing Ceremony evening. Here's the annual "winner!"
picture! Congratulations, Delie! 

At that point, I didn’t know how many points I received, or if I made any mistakes, but six weeks later, I found out my total score of both written and oral recitation tests.

Guess what? I received…a perfect score!!! Praise the Lord! I ended up placing 34^th out of all the contestants in my division of 15-18 year olds. All during the study season, I had prayed that He would bless me with a perfect oral score, and I placed my trust in Him for strength. Without Him, I knew I could not have memorized 880 verses word perfectly in three and a half months. I just had to give it over to Him, and trust Him completely for the results. It was totally worth it.

So now, I’m going to give you a dare, but it’s a good dare. I dare you…whatever you are facing in life, maybe with an upcoming test, a trip or an event you’re worried about, or any difficulty; you fill in that blank…Trust fully in God. He promises to never leave you, or forsake you.² He is our refuge and strength and a very present help in trouble.³ Ask Him for strength. Fully rely on Him. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. He shall direct your path!⁴

As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him. For who is God save the Lord? or who is a rock save our God? It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect. He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places. {Psalm 18:30-33} 

Oh…while we’re on the subject of the National Bible Bee, I really want to encourage you to compete in it, if you are 7-18 years old. I can honestly say it changed my life for the best. Digging into God’s Word will never return void! Doing the Bible Bee has been one of the best things I've ever done! :) I looked forward to competing each year with great excitement. ;) Registration for the 2016 Bible Bee is now open!!! Click HERE to go to the Bible Bee website and find out more information. If you have any questions, I would be happy to try to answer them for you. =) Blessings!

1: Psalm 18:32. 2: Hebrews 13:5. 3: Psalm 46:1-3. 4: Proverbs 3:5-6. 

Can I really?

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13

I KNOW THIS IS GOD’S REALITY FOR ME!

Lately, God has been teaching me a lot about trusting Him for strength. In June of this year I signed up for the National Bible Bee. Although I’ve competed for the past three years, I’ve never made it beyond the state level. This year I was hoping to make it to nationals – but I felt so out of focus. I lacked concentration when I studied, and I was soooo busy,

Then July came. Four of my siblings and I were supposed to volunteer at a summer camp. I was super excited about the trip when, the night before we were scheduled to leave, I got really sick. I had really, really wanted to go and I felt like God had let me down… I prayed and prayed that I would wake up the next morning and be well enough to go, but it just didn’t happen. Instead, I spent the next week in bed.

That morning as my siblings pulled out of the driveway without me, my sister leaned out the window and said, “Beth, maybe God is keeping you home from camp because you need the time to study; you’ll probably make it to Nationals!” I shook my head and thought, “No way am I going to make it… I’m only a few weeks away from my test and nowhere near ready.”

Time flew and before I knew it, the test day was only a week away. I felt so unprepared, I almost gave up altogether; but a dear friend of mine talked to me into persevering. She told me I had committed to compete and I shouldn’t’ be a quitter. I knew she was right.

During the last seven days of study, I began to pray. I prayed really hard that God would show me exactly what to study in the little time I had left. When testing day arrived, I felt completely at peace. I wasn’t nervous at all, even though I had not completed all of the study I had wanted to get done.

I WAS READY TO DO MY BEST, AND TRUST GOD FOR THE REST.

I had a lot of people praying for me that day. As I took the test, God brought all the things He had been teaching me to mind. As I clicked the “finish” button on my test,  I somehow felt like it had gone really well. In fact, I even dared to hope that maybe I had a shot at getting to nationals after all.

A week later I went to the Bible Bee awards ceremony to receive my score. I had been praying all week that God would help me to be content with where he had placed me – whether I got to go to Nationals or not. As the host read off the scores I waited for my placing fully expecting that I either wouldn’t make it all, or that if I did I would be #120 (the lowest position which can qualify). Then they said my name, followed by “you placed #88 in the nation.”

I WAS LITERALLY JUMPING UP AND DOWN… I COULDN’T BELIEVE IT.

Here I was, ready to give up altogether, discouraged because I had missed camp…shaking my head in disbelief when my sister had suggested that maybe God was keeping me home so I could study… and now I was on my way to nationals!

I wasn’t ready when testing day came along, but God showed me that He can take my weaknesses and use His strength to show himself strong. As Christians when we are facing an “impossible” task, we don’t need to fear because we serve a God who does the “impossible” all the time.

“For we know that with men this is impossible. But with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

A huge thank you to my dear friend, Bethany Stelzl, for sharing with us. :) I am so excited that we made it to Nationals together...I can't wait to compete with you in November! :D Bethany occasionally blogs over at 1 Love for Christ. 

Photo Credit: Flickr

My Plans Towards You

Have you ever felt despair of not knowing what tomorrow holds? Faced the unknown with fear? Became sick just thinking about the final exam tomorrow? Worked yourself up at the thought of your job interview next week?

The truth is that all of us have experienced the same or similar experiences some time in our lives. If you are at all like me, I can work myself up at that slightest thing abnormal or unknown in my life.
For example, I recently applied at PA College of Health Sciences as I work towards an Associates’ Degree as a Registered Nurse. The deadline to apply to class was February 1st. All my paperwork was into the college by that date, except for my GED transcript. That transcript was coming from the state of PA and the college did not receive it until two weeks after the deadline. Any applications that are received late are reviewed according to available space. So I began to wonder, was I too late? Would I be admitted to the August class? Should I accept the offer from the other college? After I declined the first offer, I began to wonder, did I make the right choice? Time began to slowly tick by - days developed into weeks. I continued to question my decisions and then started selling myself short.
My faith was quite small at that point and worry was taking over. I was struck with the thought that God is in control and He already knows the outcome. All I need to do is trust Him to lead me in His will. I was reminded of a verse from Jeremiah 29:11

I realized that I had so quickly forgot that God was in control of the situation. After surrendering my college issue to Him, I felt peace knowing that He would work in His perfect time. Although worry continued to surface, I reminded myself to let go and let God take control.
The challenge I leave with you today is to trust all your worry to God. When you surrender it to Him, leave it in His arms. Don't bring it back into your arms to worry and fret about it. He is faithful! He knows where you will be tomorrow, next year, and even ten years from today.
For me, the answer came once I fully surrendered my worry to Him. I received an acceptance letter to the college and the first thing I did before I opened the envelope was to thank God and ask for His continued guidance wherever He was leading me. Sometimes He answers in the way we were hoping, other times He says "No" and yet sometimes He says "Wait"
He is faithful. Trust Him moment by moment!

Blessings! Andrea

Completely Normal - the Story of a Miracle

Meet Abigail, my older sister and the oldest child in our family, now 16 years old.

At the time this story starts she was 5 years old. She was given a medicine she was allergic to and developed severe eczema. (This is a common enough condition, a lot of people have traces of inside their elbows and behide their knees. But Abbie’s was chronic.) The doctor didn’t realize what the problem was and tried to bring the eczema under control by prescribing a whole lot more of the same medicine. As you can imagine, this did not help! Her eczema got worse and worse.

She was put under a specialist at the hospital but did not improve. At one point she spent a week in hospital on strong steroids but was still not helped. This went on for years.

She got so bad that she could not straighten her legs or arms at all. Abbie couldn’t walk properly, couldn’t sleep properly, couldn’t eat properly and all her body was so traumatized she actually stopped growing altogether. She was always covered in blood and always her eczema itched, so she was always scratching. Her skin was such a mess and so badly scarred and disfigured that she was always completely covered up, even on the hottest days, as she hated people staring at her. She spent months at a time just huddled up in a corner crying.

Life is a journey and we sometimes have to climb difficult hills and wade through deep water but God is always with us. Even at that dark time, there were rays of hope for Abbie. Things like a lady we barely knew but who regularly fasted and prayed for her.

Abbie suffered from this terrible eczema for a total of 7 years. All throughout this time we kept praying for her healing. Once we were in a church service when Brother Yun from China was present. He has an incredible testimony himself and he invited those who needed prayer to come forward. Abbie went forward and was prayed for and told that she was going to be healed at some point and the Lord would receive the glory. She clung to that.

Meanwhile, the specialist at the hospital offered a new treatment to us. It was an experimental technique but since the situation was desperate she suggested we might like to try it. It involved taking drugs to knock out Abbie’s immune system, since eczema is the immune system over-reacting to things it is not supposed to be worried about. If Abbie had those drugs she would need constant blood tests to see if she had caught any bugs because even a cold could be dangerous! It also greatly increased the likelihood of cancer.

Our parents were horrified!!! They said that if this was the only thing left that the doctors could offer, then we would have to forget the doctors. So we discharged ourselves from the medical system and told God that He was all we had left and that we were totally depending on Him.

Shortly after this Mum heard about an evangelist who prayed for the sick and had seen thousands of miracles. We went to visit this lovely elderly gentleman and he prayed for Abbie, for complete healing. He told us that Abbie would be healed.

However, she was not immediately healed. We thanked God for the healing that was coming and waited and the evangelist added Abbie to his prayer chain. It was a couple of months later that the amazing miracle happened.

Abbie woke up one morning in August 2009 and was completely normal. Every trace of eczema had gone from her body and her skin was silky smooth! It felt like brand new skin! Not only was every trace of eczema completely gone from her entire body but every bit of scarring and discolouring that we had been told was permanent, had vanished too! There was no sign that she had ever had anything wrong with her. Praise the Lord!!

~ Bonnie