Today's devotion came from the book of Esther, talking about God's work behind the scenes. Interestingly, the word God was never once mentioned in that book, however, His hand at work is ever so evident in the events that took place.
After reading about His "behind-the-scenes" work in the book of Esther, I am compelled to share about His "behind-the-scenes" work in my life in 2 particular occasions: neuro supp, gerontology late assignment.
NEURO SUPPLEMENTARY EXAM
One thing that definitely contributed to my hectic crazy second year in uni, was the hectic crazy unit called Neuroscience Neurodevelopment. Even by reading the name, one can easily see that it's meant to be 2 separate units instead of one. Clearly it felt that way to me. Weekly Neuroscience lectures, Neuroscience tutorials, Neurodevelopment online lectures, Neurodevelopment workshops, + readings + tutorial/workshop preparation worksheets... this was the most interesting yet challenging unit I've ever come across. Juggling this with 3 other units and other commitments throughout the semester, I came to realise that my knowledge of the brain was negligible when the exam study break arrived.
I had made prior arrangements with a friend shuling, to go for a roadtrip around Perth in the winter break after exams. However, after learning from ongtingtong that it was the supp exam period at that time, I decided to call it off, just in case.
Also during that winter break period, will's (a friend from Overseas Christian Fellowship) auntie's friend's friend's friend's friend's friend had a daughter, muimui coming to perth to begin uni and was looking for accommodation. Knowing that I was living alone (Geri my cousin was in Milan for exchange for a semester), he asked if my house was available to accommodate mui2 for the first few days in perth before she finds a house to settle in. [God's hand: thankfully i was not away somewhere on roadtrip, otherwise I wouldn't have had the opportunity to accommodate mui2 and wendy, her sister :)]. At that same time, I learnt that I had failed my neuroscience exam, but was eligible for a supplementary exam (THANK GOD! imagine having to repeat that unit! *shock horror shock horror horror*) so YAY: that I was not somewhere in monkey mia being a tourist and being too far away to come back to revise for my exam, and BOO: having to study instead of spending my holiday like a TRUE BLUE HOLIDAY.
The day before my supplementary exam.. I was still clueless about the brain. I could memorise certain information, but my understanding was non-existent. Drove muimui to UWA for her orientation in the morning and walked with her to wherever the orientation was, and as I was on my way to my car, there was Judy, fresh out of the exam hall.. after her NEUROSCIENCE EXAM! Exchanged greetings, told her about my doomsday yada yada and left UWA and headed home. Later in the day, Judy texted me to tell me that we could meet up if I needed any help and i was like.. YES OF COURSE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE I'M DESPERATE. And so we met. And finally after one whole semester, I understood THE BRAIN. Judy taught me all these cool diagrams of the circle of willis and the cerebral arteries and etc etc which i drew on my supp exam paper which the teacher said was cool (woohooo). and VIOLA! I passed my supp exam because of God's behind-the-scenes work and perfect timing. :D
And with mui2, I'm so thankful that I could accommodate her for that short period and introducing her to OCF, because being surrounded by Christian brothers and sisters, she eventually knew about the gospel and decided to ask Christ into her heart to be her Lord and Saviour in OCF Easter Camp 2010 :)
All glory to God, whose plans are perfect and AWEEEEsomeee!
GERONTOLOGY LATE SUBMISSION
I have a problem with handing in my assignments on time. This also stresses my parents. A LOT. So one of my resolutions this year was to hand in my assignments on time but oops, i did it again (hahahha lame chop). The penalties for late submission: 10% of total assignment mark. I had a Neuroscience poster and Gerontology essay due on the Monday after Easter Tute Free week. That is crazy. But as a part time student doing 2 units, I've got it really good. But I don't know.. being the slowpoke that I am before submission date, I managed to hand in my Neuroscience poster on time, but could only hand in Gerontology the day after the due date, which meant a penalty of 4% from 40%. (which is dangerous when you are required to type 1600 words in one day). We received our essay results a few weeks later and to my amazement, I got 30.5 out of 40.. THANK GOD! but then i realised that I wasn't penalised yet for my late submission. I struggled with the decisions i had to choose from. a) keep quiet, keep the marks, keep feeling guilty? OR b) tell the teacher, get penalised, live guilt free?
it was a great struggle but thankfully after deducting 4 marks will still give me a pass mark so that made the decision making process so much easier. I chose b), because God has reminded me time and again through experiences that everything that happens in my life may not be within my control, but they are in His control. Scoring well may mean the world to me, but if that was to be done in a way that displeases God, does scoring well matter to God then? If I were to be teaching kids in Sunday school not to lie or cheat, what gives me the right to lie and cheat before God? So yes. Made the tough decision and told my tutor who told me to email the unit coordinator which I did.. Just a few days ago, here's what I got in my email inbox:
"
Dear Jeannie
Thank you for your honesty. Because of your email I decided to keep your mark for the assignment on 30.5.
Well done for doing the right thing and write to me. It takes courage.
"and for this, which was really beyond my control, I THANK GOD, who taught me to let go of things that may seem important in this lifetime, but does not last for eternity.
when I compare what I experienced to that of Esther's, I must say, hers was clearly a tougher decision to make. It was a matter of life and death. Yet, her faith in God led her to come to this decision:
(Esther 4:16)
“Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”
2 Corinthians 4:18
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.