Led by Cynthia Chambers, AUHS Financial Aid Administrator
American University of Health Sciences (AUHS) rang in the New Year by having its first Wednesday Noonday Prayer in the first week of the Winter 2017 Quarter, on January 4th. AUHS faculty and staff gathered the University Chapel to praise and worship God and to support and pray for their Christian brothers and sisters. AUHS co-workers held hands and sang “Amazing Grace” and “In His Time.”
“Today we’re going to be talking about unified worship and prayer for a New Year,” Chambers said.
Attendees sat in a circle and were given a list of passages from both the Old and New Testament of the Bible. The attendees took turns to read each passage out loud and shared what each excerpt meant to them on a personal, professional and spiritual level.
Lamentations 3:22-23 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
“God’s love for you and me never ends whether we’re good today and bad tomorrow.” said AUHS Founder Dr. Kim Dang (Hon.), “Whether or not we move away from God, his love is still the same; His mercy never ends.”
Human love is conditional and human faithfulness is to a certain extent but God’s love and mercy is everlasting. When you are comfortable and prosperous in life, you have many friends who are faithful to you. But when you are going through difficult times, (whether it’s personal, financial or otherwise), your friends, acquaintances and even family members will abandon you because human faithfulness is only to a certain extent.
“When you have a bad day, you go home and you’re frustrated but then you go to sleep, wake up the next day, you feel refreshed, you feel blessed and you know that God got you up that morning. And everything is filled with love.” Brian Cuffey said.
Even when you did things that you know is not right, God is still merciful. However, we felt like the other day, we wake up each morning and we feel refreshed because His mercy is still there.
Isaiah 43:18-19 Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
“This speaks to me that this is the New Year. Everything is a new start regardless of what happened in the past whether good or bad, said Dr. Sisi Chen, AUHS Director of Institutional Research, “I’m looking forward to the future with God’s blessings.”
Being that it is a New Year, It is important to always have hope and to continue moving forward. One must let go of negative thoughts and fears.
“God does not give us the spirit of fear. He gives us power and a sound mind. A lot of times when we are scared, it’s not of God,” said Dr. Dang, “When we panic, we lose control and we allow the world to come in to tell us what to do. Then we no longer rely upon God.”
There are times in life where there will be storms- death, sickness and other trials and tribulations, said Dr. Dang, but if you have peace in the middle of the storm, then that is of God. When you allow God to become your center, everything else will work itself out.
The storm comes to confuse, to distract and to cause worry. But it will come to pass so we can learn something from it. Evil things, evil situations, evil circumstances want to recycle itself but evil will only prevail if you allow it. Have faith in God and in yourself.
“When people thought AUHS would have never ever gotten through CCNE, or that we would never ever meet all four standards or that we would not have gotten that report out on time, God showed us that it was possible. He made it happen,” Dr. Dang said.
Psalm 20:4 May He give you the desire of the heart and make all your plans succeed.
“For me this says dig deep, think about the things that you really want; not the shiny new bauble at the home goods store. But what you really want to happen in your life,” said AUHS Provost, Dr. Scherlin, “Ask our Father for guidance and he will show you the way. He may not give it to you on a silver platter but he will show you how to get there.”
Getting what you want from life is a matter of going to God.
“If you don’t know what your actual desires are, you may think your wants and your needs are superficial but your desires are deep inside your heart,” said Chambers, “In order to have that desire fulfilled you have to go to God because he knows what he planted that in your heart. Go to Him to have Him flourish so that you can give it to Him and see it succeed.”
There are several times where the bible discusses desire, according to Hai Luong, Admissions. Luong referred to Psalm 37- “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” and Proverbs 13:12- Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is the tree of life.
“In any arena in life you must have strong desire. If we don’t have a desire we are not motivated to succeed in life,” said Luong, “However, we must check our desire against the word to see that if that desire is Godly, not our own lustful desire.”
God gives us desire in order to motivate us to work hard for his blessings.
“I think that he most worthwhile things that God gives to you are the things that you have to work for,” said Dr. Scherlin, “What I’ve noticed in my children and grandchildren and in other individuals is if it comes too easy then nobody appreciates it. But if you had to work for it, that is God’s gift to you. You would not have really appreciated it if you hadn’t worked hard, sacrificed and suffered to make it happen. That is God’s promise to you.”
About American University of Health Sciences
AUHS is a Christian based, minority-serving university, which educates students for careers in the healthcare professions. AUHS emphasizes the values of faith in God, love of humankind, and belief that all people have a right to healthcare and deserve a good quality of life based on wellness of body, mind and spirit. The university celebrates diversity, and reaches out to groups currently underrepresented in healthcare and research. AUHS provides the under-graduate and graduate curriculum, hands-on practical training and supportive environment required to create competent and compassionate healthcare professionals.
American University of Health Sciences is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC), 985 Atlantic Avenue, Suite 100, Alameda, CA 94501, 510.748.9001.