Back in 2010 when I was in university in Ghana, I made a friend who was two years ahead of me. Even though he was troublesome (he wasn’t always very honest and often caused problems) he still remained my friend. One day he visited and asked if we could watch a preaching video by a local pastor. The sermon was titled “Understanding the power of your opportunity”. The point of the message was basically about treating people right, because you never know who you might need to help you one day.

Fast forward a few years and my friend completed university and went off somewhere else to do a second degree. I completed my course two years later. Little did I know that God was going to use him to affect my life in ways I couldn’t have imagined.

I’d been working for about two and half years when my employer told me the company wasn’t making a profit and so they’d be scaling down. Within that period I had been applying to schools outside of Ghana to be able to do my second degree. So I told my old university friend about it, who was in a better position to help secure me a scholarship.

Just like in a bad dream, many of us at my workplace were told we no longer had jobs. The amazing thing is that two days after we were sacked, my scholarship to study in the UK (worth almost £30,000) was approved.

But a short while later I was told that I was not selected to be part of the beneficiaries of the scholarship. However my belief was that God still loved me anyway and that the time was just not right, according to His good wisdom.

Now I’m in the UK to pursue my masters in International Relations. I got here later than I thought I would, but it means I can carry on with my studies. I didn’t know how this was going to be possible without my friend going all out for me. All I knew was that God was going to come through for me and that He knew my name.

I just want to encourage someone out there that God is faithful. He really does know us, even from when He made us in the womb (Psalm 139:13). If you’re trusting in Him and waiting for Him to answer you, He will! Just delight yourself in the Lord and He shall provide what you need. Whilst you do that, treat people that come your way well. God loves and blesses us, and He often does that through people. In my case, He provided through my friend from university eight years ago. —Abigail