If you are like me, reading this title might have caused a Moana song to immediately start playing in your head. While I’m not going to apologize for that, I do have another purpose behind it. Out of the blue a couple of days ago, I read a post on Facebook that said, “God has you right where He wants you.” This simple sentence was the seed God continued to grow over the next couple of days, although it took one really hard day to show this to me completely.
It did not start out as a bad day. I was at work and things were going well, then all of a sudden it was like something snapped. I was irritated about every little thing: less free time than I thought, expensive textbooks, traffic…the list goes on. As soon as I realized what a bad attitude I had I wanted to stop it. After spending some time with God I was reminded of something I had read in Passion and Purity the night before. Elisabeth Elliot writes, “What kind of a God is it who asks everything of us?” The answer is: one who gave His son for us. I was upset because things weren’t going my way and God was asking me to be patient and trust Him. The more time we focus on the world, the more these small things bother us. I had spent a long time that morning on Instagram and Facebook but after I read my Bible, I decided not to check social media for a while.
A couple hours later, I opened Instagram and immediately saw a post that started up all my worrying again. At that moment, “In Christ Alone” came on the radio. This seems so simple, but it was my amazing Father wrapping His arms around me and letting me know He is in control. Then tonight, I came home and started to write out my feelings from the day and not only did I realize how amazing God is, but I also saw many signs of growth in my own life. Seeing growth is something I struggle with, and it was a huge encouragement to identify so many(areas in which I’m growing).
Then I realized something: I am happy. I had been dreading summer since Christmas. Don’t get me wrong; I love the break from school, eating snow cones(from Josh’s), going swimming, and working my summer job, but this summer is drastically different from last summer. Last summer, my whole family was together and I was rarely without someone to talk to, get ice cream with, or just hang out with. This summer, my family is much more spread out and I do not have the built-in friends like I have at school. I expected this summer to be hard, boring, and lonely. It has been the complete opposite. There have been some hard moments, but I have loved getting to spend time growing in my relationship with God, having to be intentional with my friends, serving others, and letting God guide me every day.
Today I heard Ecclesiastes 3: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” Last summer was my season with my family and a time to chill out and relax. Last semester(a hard one) was a season of learning and trusting God. While I’m not sure what this season includes, I know it is one where I am happy where I am because it is where God has me and I’m content to let him guide my steps. When we spend time wishing we were somewhere else, we often miss the beauty of where God has us right now. Last summer was a season spent making memories with my family, this summer is a season of spending time with the Lord and my Tulsa friends. My need to be purposeful has pushed me to reconnect with old friends and it has been such a blessing, a truly wonderful season. Instead of dreading the summer or counting down the days until school starts(and I have tons to do) I am going to enjoy this season, a season of long quiet times, and days at the pool and late night bike rides. I am thankful that this is where God has me and I am content to see what He will teach me in this season.
