What Happened to Justina?

“What Happened to Justina?!”

Everyone in Justina’s hostel could not stop talking. Something about Justina was just different. They had known her since their very first year on campus, but the Justina walking into this new semester was not the same Justina they used to know.

Back then, Justina was a Christian… in fact, a well-known sister in the campus fellowship. If zeal had a name, hers would be among the first five. She served, she prayed, she showed up. But even with all the zeal, there were two things everyone easily pointed out.

Justina was stingy! Ah!

Not only to others, but even to herself. If she gave anything out, the receiver had to first inspect it to be sure it wasn’t expired or faulty. Both believers and unbelievers had concluded: “Justina doesn’t give.”

As for the other matter, it was something those in her fellowship knew too well. Justina was quarrelsome in spirit. If something did not go her way or did not align with her standards, she was quick to take offence, quick to respond harshly, and slow to extend patience. A small misunderstanding could easily turn into a sharp exchange. Many avoided getting on her wrong side.

She was indeed zealous, but she wasn’t gracious.

Then, after the five-month end-of-session break, something unbelievable happened.

Justina returned changed! 

 

At first, everyone thought it was pretense. But six weeks passed… then eight… then ten. Too long for an act. And still, Justina wasn’t handing anyone an expired milk sachet!

She fetched water for her roommates. She carried their buckets upstairs. Her course mate misplaced her newly-bought textbook, yet Justina neither flared up nor held a grudge. When the book was found, she shouted a hearty hallelujah and even hugged the course mate!

Her bunkmate, Priscilla, finally confronted her. Two whole months and Justina had been generous, humble, considerate, loving… the complete opposite of the old Justina.

“What happened to you?” she asked as they walked back from fellowship. “You’ve changed… for good. What happened during the holiday?”

Justina stopped, looked Priscilla straight in the eyes, and said quietly:

“Priscilla… I discovered something I never truly understood. Ah, my Father! I found that godliness is not born from rules or by doctrines, nor forced out by human discipline. I saw that I had been trying to sanctify myself by myself. But the Lord confronted me. He showed me that He alone is the Author of a transformed life. I turned my eyes to Jesus, not to myself, not to my efforts, not to my ‘standards’ anymore and I realised that it is His life that works holiness in me. He humbled me, Priscilla. He broke the proud places. He softened the harshness. He poured love where judgment used to be. And in these past months, He has been leading me step by step into His likeness.”

“Ehn ehn!”

 

“Long story short, I found the path of discipleship, sis!” She moves close to Priscilla and held her shoulders “I found eternal life, Priscy! The life of God! Zoe!” She said joyfully.  

Priscilla stared at her as if seeing her for the first time.

She swallowed. Her eyes narrowed, searching Justina’s face. Her voice came out almost as a whisper:

“Wait… Justina… you mean… is it that simple?” she asked softly, struggling to process the weight of what she was hearing. “So you’re saying… all this change in you… it’s Jesus? Not… not you?”

Justina gave a peaceful smile.

“Priscy… listen to me,” she said quietly, “I sleep better now. I don’t suspect people here and there. I hear God better. I am enjoying God as my father. I am learning to enter into my rest, unrushed. Chai!”

“Wow!” Priscilla exclaimed, bewildered.

“Yes, sis. I am daily learning Jesus as a Person, learning to carry my cross daily as He did His. My life is altered, friend. This… this is how Christianity was meant to be, Priscy. I didn’t know.” Justina shook her head slowly, eyes glistening.

“I lived in a prison for a long time. Religion is a prison, sis. It binds your hands and still tells you to climb a mountain. It gives you rules but no strength. It gives you standards but no life. It makes you fear God instead of knowing Him.”

Her voice softened even more, trembling with sincerity.

“But Jesus… ah! Jesus is freedom. Freedom from anxiety. Freedom from striving. Freedom from performing for God’s approval. Freedom from fear. He lifts the burden and carries it Himself. He fills the heart until obedience becomes joy.” Priscilla’s eyes started welling up, her jaws shivering. 

“Wow, like, wow….”

Justina touched her chest gently.

“When I found Him, everything shifted. My mind became quiet. My heart became soft. My spirit found rest. All the places where I used to struggle… He filled them with Himself.”

She paused, then added in a whisper:

“It is Jesus, Priscy. All of this… it is Jesus.”

Priscilla stood still, her eyes wide, her heart trembling under the weight of a truth she didn’t yet understand but desperately wanted.

“Wow… this sounds too real… too pure… Justina, this doesn’t even sound like the Christianity I grew up with.”

She pressed her palm to her chest as if steadying a sudden ache.

 

“This thing you’re saying… it’s touching something inside me,” she said, blinking rapidly. “It’s like… like I’ve been thirsty and I didn’t even know it was water I needed.”

Justina stepped closer, her face full of gentle understanding.

“Priscy, I know that feeling,” she said softly. “I know what it means to serve God with fear instead of love, to pray from anxiety instead of rest, to obey from pressure instead of joy. I lived there… for years.”

Priscilla let out a shaky breath.

“Justina… I won’t lie… I don’t understand everything you’re saying,” . “But I know one thing. I want to know Jesus like this. This Justina I’m seeing is not the one I lived with before. You’re too joyful. Too soft. Too changed. And… too quickly! Something has happened to you… and I can’t deny it.”

Priscilla’s tears spilled now, running freely down her cheeks.

“Justina… I want this,” she cried softly. “I want this life. I want this kind of Christianity. I want to know Jesus like this, as rest, as peace, as life… not as pressure.”

Justina squeezed her hand, smiling through her own tears.

“Discipleship is the secret, sis. It is the school of Christ. It is where He teaches you, breaks you, forms you, fills you, and walks with you until His life becomes your life. Priscy, this is the door I found. It is the door that the church has forsaken today. The one many walk past because it looks too narrow, too simple… yet it is the gate into everything we’ve been longing for.”

Priscilla’s chin quivered as she whispered:

“Justina… I want to walk in this way.” She hushed desperately, clinging to Priscilla as if her life depended on it. 

 

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Enter the School of Christ!

Perhaps, like Priscilla, something is stirring quietly within you too. Perhaps as you walked through Justina’s journey, a familiar ache rose in your spirit; the longing for a Christianity that is alive, intimate and transforming. Jesus promised a life where His yoke is easy and His burden is light, a life where holiness flows from His strength, where obedience becomes joy and fellowship becomes rest. But this life is found only on a path not many choose.

It is the path of discipleship!

This path is where Jesus becomes your Teacher, where the Cross becomes your shaping, where the Spirit becomes your strength. It is the path where religion dies and Christ begins His work in you. It is the path Justina found, the path Priscilla now longs for, and the very path Jesus is inviting you into today.

If your heart is tired of striving… if you are weary of trying to “do Christianity” in your own strength… if you are hungry for the peace, the freedom, the rest, and the life that only Jesus gives… then the Woman in His Steps Discipleship Course is a journey you must prayerfully consider. The WIHS Discipleship course is a call; a call to follow Jesus deeply, to walk the very steps He walked, to sit in the school of Christ, to know God as Father, and to finally taste the life your soul has always longed for.

If something in you is whispering, “This is the water I have been thirsty for,” then take the step. Your own transformation may just be beginning.

Click here to learn more about WIHS.