Everyone knows that this semester has been a lot of things. Weird? Challenging? Disappointing? I could write a whole post about how all of these things are true, but instead of focusing on the difficult side of this semester, I think everybody would appreciate a little bit of what the Lord has been teaching me a whole lot more!
Thinking back to early August, I honestly wasn’t expecting much from this semester. BUT I was riding my Camp Ozark spiritual high and came in to this semester with one phrase in mind...
-Eyes fixed only on Jesus-
I was determined to have a semester dedicated to fixing my gaze on Jesus and loving the people around me like Jesus loves us. And let me tell ya, those first couple of months I was pouring out a whole lot of love. Whether it was meeting with my small group weekly, getting coffee with some really awesome new friends (@ Bethany ily), or hanging out with my first college friends that have been with me through it all ( @ Haley & Anna), I felt like my relationships were growing, and I was loving people well.
Pretty quickly, school got tough and my tank was on empty. I really just didn’t have any more to give, and it took a FaceTime with my long distance bestie, LB, to realize that I wasn’t taking any time to sit with the Lord and fill up my own tank. I heard one time that when you’re trying to be a role model or love other people well, you have to be taking the Word in for two in order to have some left over for yourself. As I started thinking about this, I realized that my gaze had shifted from the Lord and had turned to leaving a legacy in my community at LSU. Loving people well and pouring into others is not a bad thing, but it’s not nearly as important and spending time resting in the Lord.
Recently, my church put together a 12 hours of prayer event (shoutout Jessie Jenkins, you’re a rockstar). The goal was to have at least one person in prayer at our church for 12 hours straight, with each person spending an hour in prayer. Let me just tell ya, that hour of prayer was something I had no idea I needed. I left that hour feeling closer to the Lord than I had all semester. My eyes were truly fixed on Jesus, and the Lord used that hour to remind me that he is good...no matter what.
I can’t tell you the amount of times this year that I’ve told people or thought to myself, “but if not, the Lord is still good.” (Sometimes I believed it, and sometimes I was honestly trying to convince myself.) But it is SO TRUE. Even if the relationship you’re desiring doesn't happen, the Lord is still good. Even if we don’t get an in-person graduation, the Lord is still good. Even if your candidate didn’t win the election, the Lord is still good. Even if Covid NEVER goes away, the Lord is still so, so good. Truly wrapping your mind around that statement is only possible when your eyes are fixed on the Lord. We get so wrapped up in the things of everyday life that we forget about the promises of eternity and the promise that the Lord has already won the eternal battle!
Instead of focusing on the negative aspects of this past semester, I’m choosing to praise the Lord for a semester full of new lifelong friends, super late game nights, TikTok dances with Emily Ward, not playing a football game against Alabama (or Florida), and the promise that life is SO MUCH BETTER when your eyes are fixed on the Lord. Find something in your life and praise the Lord for it, because even if it seems like everything is falling apart, the Lord is still so so good.
