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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Martha Henao

Trusting God

Dear Heavenly Father, we come to you Lord during this beautiful Sabbath morning.

We're so thankful Lord that you created this day for us to rest and also to spend time with you.

Lord, as I share my testimony, I ask that you be with me and that you bring the Holy Spirit and teach me the words that I need to say.

I ask that you be with me and that you bring the Holy Spirit and teach me the words that I need to say.

I ask that you be with each and every person here, Lord, and touch their hearts.

And I say a special prayer for the people visiting us today.

We are very blessed to be here with them.

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for your grace.

So as many of you know, I am a fourth year medical student by God's grace.

I'm just gonna say a little bit about myself.

You may look at me and sometimes people think I'm Asian, but I'm not.

Then I get to talk and then they hear an accent and they're like, where is she from?

I was born and raised in South America, in Venezuela, and my whole family is from Colombia.

My parents brought me here when I was 11 to Miami.

I'm the only Adventist in my family and in my extended family.

I became Seventh-Day Adventist when I was in college.

Out of all places, I happened to be at the number 1 party school in the United States at that time.

My brother was in Iraq at that time, So 1 of my friends invited me to church and he said it's on Saturday and I thought that was weird.

So I was very curious and I went and I never left.

I felt like at that church at the Tallahassee Seventh-day Adventist Church, I felt like I found a home, I found friends, and God helped me heal my heart while my brother was in Iraq.

He's very healthy, and he's been able to adjust to civilian life after that.

Then at that time when I was in the journey of getting to know God, I read Steps to Christ.

And then I found that Jesus, He's so loving and He wants to be your friend and I really like that.

And Step to Christ completely changed my life.

I accepted Jesus as my Redeemer, and then my journey with him started.

When I was starting to go to Seventh-day Adventist Church, I knew I wanted to become a doctor.

I don't know how this was going to happen, but I knew that's something I wanted to do.

And I applied to medical school for about 2 years in a row to many places.

I took my standardized test 3 times, And I couldn't get in.

Then 1 day I was at church, and 1 of the elders said to me, why don't you apply to Loma Linda?" I said, Loma Linda, where is that?

She's like, it's an Adventist medical school in California, give it a try.

So I applied to Loma Linda and I decided to apply to other places outside of Florida because I wanted to stay there with my friends and family.

I decided that I just wanted to give it to God.

I said to God, you know what, I'm gonna try it 1 more time.

I considered doing other careers and I said to God, you take care of it because honestly I don't know what else to do.

That year I got a call from 3 different schools and that year I interviewed at 3 different places, Loma Linda being 1 of them.

And I remember that Loma Linda was the first school to accept me, but I was a little scared because I'm from Florida, coming to Loma Linda, and then leaving my friends and family behind, and also it's a private school which is a little more expensive.

So I decided to close my eyes and accept the offer.

I told my parents I'm leaving to California.

A few weeks later, I get a letter from the Molina University saying, we have a scholarship to offer for you to help you pay with your big loan.

I have to be in a good standing each and every year so the scholarship will renew.

Then I come to Loma Linda and I shared previously with Evan Hope how I wasn't studying the right way.

I came in and I decided to just Study hard, you know, I've been waiting for this 3 years and then I take my first exam and I feel anatomy then I said no I need to really like bump it up and not sleep and Not exercise.

I did keep the Sabbath, but I stressed over.

Like, during Sabbath, I would be like, oh, I need to study this, I need to study that, blah, blah, blah, blah.

So it wasn't really keeping Sabbath, I think.

So I go to my exams, and I only pass anatomy.

And now here I am, medical school, my parents dream to send me to medical school and I failed 5 exams, passed 1, what am I going to do?

So that's how my, what I call the lumpy bumpy ride started.

Before I continue with my testimony, I want to share my favorite story from the Bible.

You can find it in 2nd Chronicles chapter 20 verse 1 through 20.

It happened after this that the people of Moab with the people of Ammon and others with them besides the Ammonites came to battle against Jehoshaphat.

Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea from Syria, and they are in Chassidon tomorrow.

And Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord.

I just want you to pay attention to the parts that I have in bold.

So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord.

And from all the cities of Judah, they came to seek the Lord.

Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the new court and said, O Lord God our Father, are you not God in heaven?

And do you not rule over all the kingdoms of the nation?

And in your hand is there not power and might so that no 1 is able to withstand you?

Are you not our God who drove out the inhabitants of this land before your people of Israel and gave it to the descendants of Abraham, your friends forever?

And they dwell in it and they have built your sanctuary in it for your name, saying, If disaster comes upon us, sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this temple, and in your presence, for your name is in this temple, and cry it out in your affliction, and you will hear and save.

And now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who you would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and did not destroy them.

Here they are, rewarding us by coming to throw us out of your possessions we you have given us to inherit.

For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us.

Nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.

Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the Lord." So here it's a big problem, right?

They're coming to battle against them and Jehoshaphat seek God first, but he started by praising him and by acknowledging how God is, how wonderful and almighty he is.

And then he went on and have his request.

And the spirit of the Lord came to Jehoshaphat, the son of Zechariah, I'm gonna forward to 15, and said, listen, all of you Judah and your inhabitants of Jerusalem and your King Jehoshaphat, thus says the Lord to you, do not be afraid nor be dismayed because of this great multitude for the battle is not yours but God's.

Tomorrow go down against them, They surely will come up by the ascent of Ziz.

And you will find them at the end of the brook before the wilderness of Jeruel.

You will not need to fight in this battle.

Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem.

Tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.

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Trusting God

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