“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”
Jeremiah 29:11
I have exactly a month left before my first day as a freshman in college. Lately, I’ve been asked the same question over and over again; are you excited? When most people hear the word “college”, they tend to think the same thing; FREEDOM! So my answer to the previous question is always the same; OF COURSE! However, even with the excitement of a new school, new friends, and new experiences, I know the most important thing about college is that it’s another big step towards my future, which brings me to the scripture above.
Jeremiah 29:11 is one of my favorite scriptures and has been an encouragement these past couple of years. In a nut shell the scripture is saying that God has a plan for your life, a good plan that is going to allow you to have a bright future. I like to keep that in mind, especially while at this point in my life, because, even though it’s the school I’ll be attending in the fall, George Washington wasn’t my first choice, Drexel was. I pretty much fell head over heels in love with the school after my very first visit and decided that’s where I wanted to go for college. However, I later learned that just because my heart was set on it didn’t mean that God’s was. I was accepted in to the school and prayed that things would go smoothly but instead everything unexpectedly fell through and I was unable to attend, finally I “settled” to go to George Washington.
For a while I was mad, straight up furious with God. I felt like He had failed me even after I did everything I thought a Christian was supposed to do. I had faith, I prayed and I fasted but things still didn’t go my way. The silly thing was that for a while I assumed God was just working in those “mysterious ways” everyone’s always talking about. I thought He was trying to teach me patience, but the lesson went much deeper than that. I realized that I was thinking more about what I wanted and less about what God wanted. I had no right to be upset with the path my life was taking because, just like my Sunday school teacher said today, only God knows what’s best for me. Just like the scripture says God plans for you are “of peace and not of evil”. Even if I didn’t like George Washington at first and thought it wasn’t the right school for me, I know God isn’t trying to kill my dreams of a bright future; He’s trying to put me on the right path towards it.
As followers of Christ we know that God is just and fair, and “…no good thing will he withhold from...” (Psalm 84:11) you. However, we have to remember that not all things that are “good” are necessarily for us. How can we say that we’re living for God if we don’t completely submit to His will? God has a unique plan for each of our lives and even if we don’t like the way that we’re going, we have to trust and believe that God knows exactly what He’s doing to ensure you get the blessing you’re striving for.
#'nuffsaid
