NYSC Diaries is a 6 part series on my blog to commemorate my successful completion of the mandatory National Youth Service. It’s me sharing the stories, experiences and lessons I gathered during the year. Some will be serious, some will be funny, and some almost unbelievable. The one constant thing though is the faithfulness of God through all the seasons. Enjoy! … xX.

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Before my NYSC, if you’d asked me if I trust God, I’ll blurt out YES. Of course I trust God; he is my faithful father who has never failed me ever. I trusted him with my NYSC and so far it had been a breeze. I discovered months later that I did not exactly trust God though. I mean, I trusted him with all the major landmarks and in leading me in his will for my life BUT I found it hard to trust him with the little things.
It took two things to show me this; rats and staying home alone. See, in that fantastic house we got, few months into our stay, Ibadan rats threatened the peace and mental wellbeing of I and my house mates. Somehow, it started with one tiny rat running around and before we knew it, we were outnumbered by the rats. From 7pm at night nobody entered the kitchen because it was 99% sure that we would see a rat. We stayed in the safety of our rooms for the most part of the day and occasionally one person would jump and scream at the sight of a rat.
The rats ate everything! From yams to biscuits (they used to enter into handbags to get to the biscuits). We found rat poop everywhere! I literally had goose bumps from when I stepped into the house till I left for work in the mornings. I could barely sleep peacefully for the fear of a rat maybe crawling on my body (Lol. It never happened though but that’s to show you how paranoid I became). I was AFRAID.
We downloaded rat catcher apps on our phones (best believe those exist!), bought rat gums and poisons. We tried everything. I even prayed about it and use my anointing oil repeatedly. In the space of 2 weeks we killed over 17 rats (with poison o, not physically). I’m sure now you understand what I mean by “we were outnumbered”. After that killing spree, we were finally free.
Because of this though, I could not stay at home alone whenever my housemates were away. I was afraid I would see a rat and lose my peace, I scheduled to travel whenever they would and on the few occasions when I couldn’t, I would stay at my friend’s house till they were back. One day as I strategized on where to go as my friends were away, I heard a voice in my spirit “don’t you trust God?” I realized then that trusted God to take me back to Lagos safely whenever I travelled but not to protect me from Ibadan rats. How ironical!
I stayed back at home that day. Gradually, I stayed at home alone for days into weeks and I was finally okay. Just like that, I had learnt to trust God. I still hate rats, I still run away at the sight of them, but I’m way better than I was before. I’m thinking the next thing I need to overcome is my fear of goats (Yes! I’m afraid of those too and there are so many goats in Ibadan… sigh).

Lessons Learnt
1. Whatever you’re afraid of, will become a principality over you and before you know it, it’ll begin to increase in size and number.
2. Trusting God is not by mere words but your heart-state and actions. He wants us to trust him in both the big things and the little things.
3. Fear is NOT of God

Sinmisola Nojimu-Yusuf,
Gentleman Corps Member, 2015 Batch B, Oyo state.