This week’s Morning Dew was lead by Pastor Gregory Johnson, the Co-founder of AUHS. They each took turns reading the following passages out loud and discussed what each excerpt meant to them on a personal, professional and spiritual level.
How can I be assured that my efforts will bring to me gain? By placing my faith in the Lord and being diligent with all that I claim to desire.
God knows all of your needs and desires. Rely on the Lord for guidance and peace of mind.
“My ultimate goal is the Lord’s will,” said Dr. Caroll Ryan, the President of AUHS, “No matter what I desire, I always say, ‘Lord, let your will be done.’ No matter what happens, I am reassured that it is all part of God’s plan.”
One must not depend on the promises of man but trust in the promises of Christ.
“If I depend on man then I cannot be assured that I am doing the right thing. But if I depend on God, then I know that no matter what I do, God is always watching over me,” said Ivy Javaluyas, the AUHS Director of Student Affairs, “Even if man does not give you what you deserve, God will reward you in the end.”
Not everyone will get what they want in life but there is a reason why. Never lose sight of the big picture.
“You don’t always get what you want because God has something better for you,” Pastor Johnson said.
Pastor Johnson talked about how he and his family went to Wondercon last weekend. Temujin, his youngest child, asked him for money so he could buy a few things from the vendors.
“I gave Temujin some money and he went and got packs of Pokemon cards. Then he bemoaned the fact that he spent all of his money on Pokemon cards. I said, ‘Temujin, you could have bought a collectible or you could have asked me to help pick something out for you,’” Pastor Johnson said, “I think God is always trying to figure out how to give his children the very best. God knows the things that make us, His children, happy. Parents want to give their children the very best and God is the greatest parent that we have.”
God wants us to be successful but He also wants us to be capable enough to help ourselves. The key to success is to remain diligent.
“I meet a lot of people who say that they want to be successful but they’re not applying themselves. They are not working towards their goals, they’re not putting in any effort, they just want to become successful overnight,” Pastor Johnson said, “But without diligence, without application, and without God, it is all meaningless.”
Dr. Mok Chong, the AUHS Director of General Education, referred to Psalm 127:1 “Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.”
“If you work towards a goal on your own, you may be successful but without God, your success will not have a very stable foundation. Your success will not last very long,” Dr. Chong said, “Rely on God. That’s the only way to do things. Give Him all the glory. No matter how impossible the task, if you give it up to the Lord, you will see the fruit of your labor.”
Pastor Johnson agreed with Dr. Chong. It is important to be diligent in your work but you must also seek God’s guidance in order to be truly successful.
“The funny part is that you can work hard on something and still fail, not because you lack diligence but because you left God out,” Pastor Johnson said, “Even if you only have very little to work with in this world, apply yourself to God and He will guide you and get you to where you need to be in life.”
Diligence
Be mindful of the effort by which you proceed each day
For what time and energy you apply to a thing
Will determine what comes your way
Do not waste your time and energy on trivial things. Find clarity and purpose through the word of God.
“We need to remind ourselves to apply our energy to the right things because sometimes you will lose your way,” said Stephanie Lien, the AUHS Librarian, “You might focus too much on something that doesn’t really matter. So it’s important to put that effort into something that’s actually important so we can be productive.”
Dr. Scherlin, the Provost of AUHS, shared with the room how her father was a Swedish immigrant and that she grew up on a farm in Vermont.
“My house was not about having fun, it was about hard work. The one thing that my parents taught me from a very early age is that if you do something, do it well. Do the best you possibly can or don’t bother trying at all,” Dr. Scherlin said.
While growing up, Scherlin resented her family because she had to support herself without her parent’s help.
“Everybody else’s parents helped them go to school but I had to pay for my own education. I had to do everything on my own,” said Dr. Scherlin, “But when I look back, I know now that my parents gave me a great gift because they taught me the value of hard work and independence. They taught me how to rely on myself and to rely on a higher power.”
Carlet Lacno, an AUHS accountant, shared how she had a side-job filing income taxes. She explained how she lost two clients last Saturday on account of due diligence. The clients told Lacno that they had 3 kids and wanted to file them as dependents. She asked them for the children’s birth certificates and immunization records but the clients claimed that they did not have the documents. They only provided Lacno with the children’s social security number.
“A social security number on its own did not mean anything to me. I asked them, ‘Why is the father not claiming them?’” Lacno said, “I kept asking questions and then they left. When I told my boss that I lost two clients because they could not present any documentation, my boss said, ‘I would rather have you lose those clients than you being penalized for not doing due diligence.’”
Pastor Johnson reminded the room to not take anything for granted, not even the weather.
“I grew up on the east coast and if you’re not diligent, you will just freeze and die because of the cold. There’s a lot of sunshine on the west coast and people take it for granted. They think they have all the time in the world to do this and to do that,” Pastor Johnson said, “But life and death is in everything that we do. Life and death are in everything that we want. If we’re going to know success then we have to be the most diligent of all.”
Pastor Johnson urged all of the members in the room to be productive year-round.
“You cannot afford to waste time. You cannot afford to throw away an opportunity,” Pastor Johnson said, “You work hard and you play hard but you really have to work hard.”
Dr. Ryan then discussed what she thought of people who used the word, “Try.”
“‘Try’ does not mean anything. You either do it or you don’t. There is no real action to trying,” Dr. Ryan said, “I think that diligence is absolutely important in order for us to really accomplish anything.”
Zeal
I have seen how a man can labor. I have watched as a woman does try.
What I’ve noticed, more than anything. Are the ones who press hard, can fly.
God is always watching over us to see whether or not we are obedient to His will.
“The words ‘Press hard’ is actually a very interesting phrase because when you really want something, you have to put in a good effort for it. You need to have a good cause and a purpose,” Dr. Chong said, “God is always watching us. He knows what we want but God wants to see if we are listening to Him and if we are obedient to Him. He wants to see how we press on. This is what he wants us to do. He doesn’t need anything else from us. Obedience is better than sacrifice.”
As we grow older we often lose sight of our passion, zeal, and faith.
“When we were still young, we had a lot of dreams, passions, and zeal. We felt that anything was possible as long as we worked hard and remained diligent,” said Dr. Sisi Chen, the AUHS Director of Institutional Research and Assessment, “But once we stepped into the real world, we learn that life a lot more complicated than having diligence and hard work.”
There are many obstacles and external factors that prevent us from achieving our goals. We complain, get discouraged, and then we forget about all the dreams that we had when we were younger. We lose our diligence and we lose our passion.
“The most important thing to remember is that we do not work for ourselves, we work for God,” said Dr. Chen, “You may not be successful at first but if you remain diligent and if you remain true to God, you will find success.”
AUHS is a private, for-profit, minority owned, minority serving, Christian-based university whose mission is to educate and equip students with life careers and to produce quality health care professionals for the community, the nation, and the world. It is a university where appreciation of life and one’s spiritual reason for existence can be nurtured. AUHS offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), a Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences (BSPS) and a Master of Science in Clinical Research (MSCR). To request more information, email admissions@auhs.edu or call (562) 988-2278. For the latest news, pictures and videos of American University of Health Sciences’ events, like us on Facebook @auhs.edu and follow us on Twitter @AUHS_Campus and Instagram @auhsedu.