Lawi-an’s Story: A lawyer’s Faith and Perseverance
It was a long journey to her destination, but it was worthwhile.
The journey was challenging, but as a result of the refining process of the One who brought her to where she is today, faith was strengthened and the power of perseverance against great odds was molded.
In one of the City Information Office’s FB Live “Tingog sang Pagsanyog” Program, Lawi-an, a newly sworn-in lawyer shared her story of triumph, faith, and perseverance.
Myra Joy Hernandez Lawian recalled the early days before receiving the light she told a story worth telling about how she stood her ground in a journey of testing that shaped and prepared her to be the lawyer God intended her to be.
She recollected her childhood years, during which she had received a solid foundation from her parents, which eventually helped her develop the skills she needed to become a well-functioning adult. Being raised by parents who are both in the academe, the Lawi-an siblings developed a love for reading, which has lately turned into a good study habit.
Lawi-an, affectionately known as “mommy” by her Koronadal National Comprehensive High School classmates, recalls her high school years as enjoyable and free of peer and family pressures.
Her supportive family, on the other hand, never hesitated to send her to law school after she completed a degree in Philosophy at Notre Dame of Marbel University. In fact, she has made sacrifices by selling coconut wine and ducks to earn money for transportation and to supplement her parents’ meager income. Eating at a fast food restaurant before the end of the week is considered a luxury for her.
She never stopped rising at MSU College of Law. “After I enrolled in law school, I looked up in heaven and asked God if I could have my parents come up the stage,” she once said. She graduated Valedictorian, owing to her perseverance to her studies.
On the other hand, she shared her remarkable journey with the Lord when she developed a thirst for the Word of God, spending nearly a half day just reading the Bible during her law school years. But it wasn’t yet a spiritual turning point for her.
After finishing law school, the pressure was so intense that the school pushed all of the honor students to take the Bar Exam right away, and they all failed. And this is where the frustration began. Lawi-an remembered feeling aggrieved after a series of tests and failing, and she attempted to question God.
Meanwhile, she spent several years working in Metro Manila and began attending a Born Again Christian Church. She then returned to Koronadal and began working for the government as a Job Order employee at the City Legal Office. It is where she met her best friend Abegail Batara, who was used by God to lead her to a home church where she began attending regularly. She had a supernatural encounter with the Lord at that time, which was a real turning point and her active service as a Sunday school teacher and worship leader attests to it.
Further, her job in the city government had become her battleground. Her desk had evolved into a counseling platform that provides not only psychological but also spiritual healing. Lawi-an used her influence and gifting to serve the Lord in the workplace and to be a blessing to the oppressed, disheartened, confused, and deceived.
Her territory was later expanded, and her love for counseling was put to worthy use at the City Anti-Drug Abuse Council Aftercare program, which provides Recovering Drug Dependents with an 18-month relapse prevention intervention. Out of her great dependence to the perfect plan of the Lord, her burden to pass the Bar Examination was lightened. However, her faith was tested along the way until God allowed her to experience a dramatic change of heart. She decided to take the 2022 Bar Examination again after receiving assurance from the Lord that this time, in her fifth attempt, she would pass.
Her faith never failed her, and this time she has received God’s lifetime favor. The new lawyers who passed the 2022 Bar Exams were sworn in on May 2. Lawi-an was one of 3,992 individuals out of 9,183 who passed and took the oath before the Supreme Court and can now use the title “Atty.”
Lawi-an recalled how the Lord had walked alongside her throughout the Bar examination. Because God is more concerned with the human heart, Law-ian had a change of outlook and perspective that prepared her to be the lawyer that God intended her to be, someone who will work with integrity and compassion, since she considers being a lawyer to be a ministry and a calling, not just a vocation.
Meanwhile, Lawi-an can testify that after removing all self-righteousness and self-serving motives, God granted her long-term desire to be a lawyer.
According to the Care for Pastor Website, God may be delaying His response to our prayers due to His timing. The word of the Lord says in Isaiah 55:8, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.” The author emphasized that God’s timing is always perfect. He has complete control over everything at all times and in all places. His delays may simply be due to the fact that the answer you seek is not in His timing, but we must remember that a delay is not a denial. It’s just a delay.
Lawi-an was recently promoted to Division Chief of the Legislative and Barangay Affairs division at the City Legal Office after working in the public service for about 13 years. She also intends to pursue a career in prosecution while continuing to provide her clients with a holistic approach to alleviate their struggles.
While displaying great meekness and reverence to her Maker, Lawi-an also receives the fullness of joy and is now ready to embark on a new chapter in her life. Her desire is to be used mightily by the Lord and to touch many lives wherever she is planted as a Christian lawyer who will bravely stand at the forefront of a spiritual battle against injustice and oppression.
Yes, Lawi-an has had some spiritual setbacks and has needed to be reminded to persevere at times. But, since deciding to follow Jesus, her life has been defined by obedience and a burning desire to share the gospel with others.
Her faith was tested several times to see if she could continue to abide in the midst of constant disappointment and failures that eventually lead to perseverance by simply holding on to the Lord with complete dependence and remembering that she serves a God who is always true to His promise.
“When the right time comes, He will make it happen,” she quoted.