These two words typically bring almost instantaneous fear into college students, but to be quite frank, I'm not stressed about finals. At all. Perhaps this is because this is my first college semester and most of the time I typically do not know what I'm doing... but about mid-semester I finally learned a lesson that I believe is possibly the most important lesson one can achieve in a lifetime.
Truly trusting in the Lord.
This may sound cheesy, we've all heard the infamous Proverb, but trusting in God doesn't mean that you don't do anything, and wait around hoping that God will have a supernatural intervention in your life, that everything will be magically taken care of and your path will be visible in front of you, straight and laid out.
No, trusting God is much more than what it seems. It involves a daily, committal relationship, where you must put in effort and prayer to communicate with Him. This is no small task, it's quite easy to be caught up in the routine and stresses of what a day typically entails. But whether it's a one minute prayer in the morning, or building up to a continuous conversation through the whole day, I've learned that simply taking a moment just to talk out your emotions, worries, desires and thoughts to Christ truly builds a relationship that cannot be broken (from our own accord). Yes, God already knows every depth of your heart, but verbalizing your prayers, positive or negative, builds a confidant, trusting relationship. Soon, you will realize that how much you do need to rely on Him to make it through the day with absolute peace and joy, and to find yourself praying or talking to God in moments you never have before, like walking out of a hard examination but thanking Him that I'm lucky enough to be receiving higher education.
The more I communicate with God through the day, the more I've learned to trust in Him, therefore building peace from knowing that every day is His, and will benefit both Christ and myself. To trust that everything will work out, and to have peace in every day hassles. Perhaps one of the greatest realizations as a college student is that grades are not eternal. But Jesus, and a relationship with Him, is. Focus on what is unseen, and by trusting in your relationship with Christ, the Earthly anxieties simply will not phase you. This is not to say that worries and stress will not come, but by meditation and daily conversation with Christ, the daily anxieties that so often cloud our relationship with God will become minuscule compared to the greater glory of God's Kingdom.
"Show me your ways, Oh Lord,
teach me your paths,
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long"
Psalm 25:4-5
