Every year Loma Linda University graduates share a testimony of what God has done in their lives. Eugene Looi and Nicole LaLonde share their experiences in this message. 

<p>Every year Loma Linda University graduates share a testimony of what God has done in their lives. Eugene Looi and Nicole LaLonde share their experiences in this message.</p> <div></div>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Nicole LaLonde

Eugene Looi

Graduate Testimonies

Dear Heavenly Father, we pray that you would send your Holy Spirit to be with each person who is listening this morning.

I pray that you would please be with our speakers and that you would please be with their words.

We pray that you would press upon their hearts what you would have us to hear this morning.

We pray that you would be with each person in our world who is hurting especially that you would be with the Advent Pope attendees who are listening this morning.

Pray that you'd be with those who are sick and who are hurting in some way.

And Lord, for those of us who have lots of Thanksgiving this morning, we praise you.

We pray this morning that our worship would be accessible unto you.

This morning we will have 3 of our graduates sharing with us.

Eugenie is graduating from Loma Linda University School of Medicine.

Eugenie, we're looking forward to hearing what God has placed on your heart to share this morning.

All right, can everyone see my screen okay?

I was born in an island off the west coast of the Malaysian peninsula called Penang.

I grew up there pretty much my whole life until I came to California in 2012.

And I graduated from La Sierra University in 2016.

That same year, I started medical school in Loma Linda.

And by God's grace, I will be graduating tomorrow.

Growing up, I've always felt that I had to work very hard to accomplish anything.

As a child, I noticed that it often took me a longer time to understand and memorize something, especially when I compared myself to my older sister.

I know that I shouldn't be comparing myself with others, but my sister always picked things up so quickly and I always envied that.

And so I always felt I had to work a lot harder to pick something up or get where I wanted to be when it took her a fraction of the time to do so.

These feelings of inadequacy became more pronounced when I started medical school, where I realized that I was surrounded by others who were incredibly smart and brilliant.

On top of the mental and physical stress of medical school, I also started to feel more anxious than usual.

Part of my anxiety came from knowing that I had so much to learn and so little time to do so.

And I felt that no matter how hard I studied, I just couldn't grasp the subjects and remember what I had learned.

Halfway through second year of medical school, I was studying for midterm exams and was struggling.

Now, if you thought first year of medical school was hard, second year will prove much harder, with much more information to memorize and to master.

I remember struggling to remember the details of microbiology and which bug was associated with causing certain symptoms once it infected someone.

I was also struggling with everything else, including pathology and pharmacology.

Each time I studied the subjects, I would come away feeling as though I accomplished nothing, as the information would blur and meld together.

Feeling helpless and frustrated, I remember turning to 1 of my favorite prayers in the Bible.

Turn with me to 2 Chronicles 20, verse 5-12.

Before we read it, I just want to give you a little background on the prayer.

This powerful story took place during the time when King Jehoshaphat ruled Judah.

Sometime during his reign, the Moabites, Ammonites, and some other nations joined forces together and they were preparing to attack Judah.

When King Jehoshaphat heard that such a great multitude was gathering for battle he felt fearful but his response is what is most memorable to me because scripture says that he set himself to seek the Lord.

And so 2nd Chronicles verse 5 picks up on where he starts his prayer.

And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the new court and said, oh Lord God of our fathers, are not thou God in heaven?

And rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen?

And in thine hand, is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?

Art not our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gave us it to the seed of Abraham thy friend forever.

And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, for thy name is in this house and cry unto thee in our affliction.

And now behold the children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom thou wouldst not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and destroyed them not.

Behold, I say, how they reward us to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou has given us to inherit?

For we have no might against this great company that cometh against us.

Neither know what we to do, but our eyes are upon thee.

He started with praising God for who he is and what he has done for the Israelites in the past.

He then follows that with a plea for God to intervene as he knows that the odds of the battle weighed heavily against him.

But instead of making that his focus, King Jehoshaphat turned to God and said, our eyes are upon you.

And so my prayer went something like this, Dear Lord, I want to praise you for who you are, and that you are a God who has all the wisdom, knowledge, and power in your hands.

Thank you for leading me this far in my med school journey, and now I am facing microbiology, which threatens to overwhelm me.

I don't know what to do, and I have no might against this subject.

After this prayer, I felt at peace, knowing that the battle now belonged to God and not to me.

The way medical school exams work is that every 4 to 6 weeks, We have a few days dedicated to exams.

Each exam for the day is made up of a combination of questions from all of the subjects that we were covering in class up to that point in time in the quarter.

This requires students to be prepared for each subject every day.

And so every day, this was pretty much my prayer for every subject.

And at the end of the exam week, Our test scores were released and to my surprise, I found out that not only had I done well and exceeded my expectations in each subject, But I had only gotten 1 question wrong in microbiology.

During medical school, I came across a sermon by Dr.

In it, he said that how much stress we face in life is equal to the demands we face, minus the resources at our disposal.

I definitely was experiencing a lot of pressure from the demands of medical school, and I felt overwhelmed.

Then he went on to ask, where do you get your resources from?

If God truly is the God of your resources, What are you so worried about?

I had been so focused on my feelings and my weaknesses that I had lost sight of him who has been so faithful to me all my life.

I realized that if I make the same God who owns the cattle over a thousand hills, the source of my strength, wisdom, and understanding, nothing can stress me out, no matter how big the demand of my life can get.

Learning to make God my focus has been an ongoing journey, and there are times where I still trip up.

I have sometimes wondered why God allows weaknesses and flaws to be part of my life.

And when I wonder that I am reminded of the story of Peter walking on water.

In Desire of Ages, Ellen White mentions that Peter was safe and secure as long as he continued keeping his eyes on Jesus.

But then in a moment of self-satisfaction, Peter made the mistake of turning his eyes from him and looked back at the boat.

And as he did so, he noticed the waves and the wind surrounding him and what confidence he had gave way to fear.

Shin goes on to say this powerful statement.

When trouble comes upon us, how often we are like Peter.

We look upon the waves instead of keeping our eyes fixed upon the savior.

Our footsteps slide and the proud waters go over our souls.

Jesus did not bid Peter come to him that he should perish.

He does not call us to follow him and then forsake us.

Fear not, he says, for I have redeemed thee.

I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine.

When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee.

And through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.

When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned.

Neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy 1 of Israel, thy Savior." Isaiah 43 verse 1 to 3.

In this incident on the sea, Jesus desired to reveal to Peter his own weakness, to show that his safety was in constant dependence upon divine power.

Amid the storms of temptation, he could walk safely only as an utter self-distrust he should rely upon the Savior.

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Graduate Testimonies

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