Hello, dear reader. I hope you’ve been enjoyed the Stories of Surrender series? Personally, it has been a blessing for me to go down memory lane. If you missed the first two parts, please catch up here.
Today, I want to share how I finally obeyed the instruction to apply for the masters in communications program.
When I started Bible School, I shoved everything about the Masters program to one corner. But God didn’t shove it aside. What He did instead was to send ‘random’ people to talk to me about it. Some were comments in passing about getting a masters degree while others were full blown conversations on why it was an important step to take.
I remember when I was right in the middle of managing social media during a church conference, God had given one of our pastors a word for me. This pastor had no idea that I had been instructed to go to school. I do not remember how the conversation started but it ended with him encouraging me to go for the full time program at IE. He said this because at the point we were having this conversation, I had started to nurse the thought of doing the part time program instead, to save money. Seems like God was not having it!
Despite all the people God consistently sent to me, I just was not convinced.
Until one beautiful afternoon in South Africa.
I was at a debriefing session for a conference I handled communications for. I don’t know why but I mentioned to the comms manager that God had told me to apply for the masters in communications program at IE. She mentioned that she had done the program some years before and she told me how amazing her experience was. At this point, I was like “Abba, You are just sending people to make me do this thing!” But! I wasn’t still convinced.
From nowhere, the executive director who was in the meeting room but hadn’t contributed to our conversation spoke up. “But Adedoyin, if you say God has asked you to apply to this school, why don’t you play your part and apply? And then leave God to do His part which is to provide the funds you need.”
I don’t know what it was but as she spoke, it was as if I received a rush of clarity. I had been overthinking the instruction and I had also benchmarked it against the amount of money I had in my account.
God simply needed me to apply. That was the first step I needed to take. He would figure out the school fees and other parts.
So, I left that de-brief meeting determined to at least apply. What did I have to lose?
I applied when I returned to Nigeria some days later. After going through the process of writing the IEGAT exam, doing a virtual assessment and interview, I received my offer letter from IE. I couldn’t believe it! This instruction was somehow becoming a reality but I forgot one important thing – that it was up to God make provision available. I tried in my power to raise money and nothing worked. It was such a frustrating process and I’ll tell you all about it next week.
A note for you
If you’re like me, when you receive an instruction, you want all the information to be clear and complete. You can run with the instruction when you are clear on the specifics. Apply for a masters program? Ok. How will it be funded? Will I apply for a scholarship or get a big brief that will cover the cost?
These questions are important but the thing about God is this – a lot of times, He doesn’t give us the big picture. In fact, the pieces of the puzzle begin to fall into place as you take little steps of faith.
Your little steps of faith are important. Crucial. Not knowing the details may be scary for you; I still find it scary today. But I can tell you confidently that miracles happen as you take those little steps of faith.
Is there something God is asking you to do? I pray you receive courage and strength to take the first step.
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