My divine platform is teaching accounting at SMU and most days explaining debits and credits and how to read financial statements seems anything but divine, but God can change lives even in the most unlikely contexts. I had an amazing student who had MD, PhD and Executive MBA who then became my TA and a teacher for a class I coordinated. Most importantly, she became my friend. Because she was from a devoutly Buddhist family and had a driven personality, she was passionate about praying to the gold Buddhist shrine that covered the entire wall of her living room. When I saw that shrine for the first time, I remember thinking that it would take an absolute miracle for God to change her heart; it just seemed so daunting and overwhelming to me. After my friend’s mother died of cancer in China during Covid and my friend was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer herself in her 40s, she began to ask me deep, probing, spiritual questions about suffering and death. However, her achievement-oriented approach to life made it difficult for her to grasp that she didn’t have to do anything to earn her salvation. One of the times she was in the hospital, the Holy Spirit prompted a conversation about Psalm 23, and I could tell God was using that beautiful passage to soften her heart. Over time, as we read a book about Psalm 23 and many at Northwest prayed for her, she ultimately came to trust that Jesus, her Good Shepherd, would walk with her through the valley of the shadow of death. She was comforted to know that he understood her pain because he endured suffering on the cross out of love for her. Miraculously, she trusted that it didn’t matter what good she achieved, and that she could freely accept the gift of hope Jesus offers. Miraculously, she confirmed that there was no value in worshiping Buddha. When I visited her for the last time, we had a beautiful discussion about how we don’t have to be afraid to die because our Good Shepherd will be with us. After she died, my husband and I were honored to be a part of her memorial service and only then did we learn her name means “sheep” in Chinese. Through Psalm 23, Jesus had called this dear friend and one of his beloved sheep by name. Praise God for his miraculous work!
