By Miriam from Nigeria
It was time to move. I never thought it would be so sudden, so abrupt. But the time came.
I found myself having to make a decision that would literally change my life; a decision that would fling me into the unknown. It was shocking and very difficult. I needed just one person to tell me that maybe it wasn’t yet time to go. But everyone who has been alongside me on this journey, as my support system said, “just go for your safety.”
How did it become like this? The reality felt nothing like my imagination. My heart was pounding and racing uncontrollably. I was freaking out—I was terrified. It felt as if I was all alone. My thoughts focused on asking God—Is this it?! And I can’t even tell my family?…
I was not prepared. I thought I had more time, even though I was already very aware of the surrounding threat. I just thought somehow that things would work out, that they would be okay. But they weren’t. And it was time to go and just like that. I made the decision to leave everything familiar and move to a strange, unknown place.
My trust level was accelerated. I had to just trust what God was doing and was continuing to do in my life. Pained, scared, and lost, I packed and said goodbye…goodbye that could be forever to my loved ones.
Heavy-hearted, confused, and unsettled, I pushed myself to trust in God and start moving. Matthew 16:24 kept ringing in my spirit: Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”
It is time to carry my cross and follow Him. God knows what He’s doing, and He’s got my back.
I called my mom and my siblings and told them that I have to work in another country; I have to go, and I will be fine. Then, I looked at tickets, called an agent and a ticket was purchased. It got harder, but so did my trust in the one who knows everything and holds my tomorrow. I packed my relevant possessions, and I dove into the unknown.
As I grow older in my walk with God, I am learning to fully depend on Him, but never like this. This is a completely new and different level of trust than I’ve ever known.
I traveled for almost twenty hours to get to an unfamiliar place. The people there look like me, but that’s where the familiarity ends. Their culture is strange, and they speak an unfamiliar language. I can hardly communicate with them. The weather is different. The scenery is different. This isn’t home. This isn’t familiar.
I am traveling on a path that takes me into the unknown, and the only vehicle to take me through is my trust in God. Otherwise, I wouldn’t make it. So, into trust I enter.
I am doing my best to remember this verse in my heart as I take each step forward.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6.
