This summer was full of changes for me: I just finished my freshman year in college and coming home for such a long period of time is different. My family has failed to understand that for the past nine months, I had been able to do whatever I want whenever I want. This past May, my boyfriend also graduated high school and left only a short month later to attend the United States Military Academy in New York.
Being home without him for the first summer in three years left me lonely.
With the stress from my family and not being able to talk to my boyfriend, I decided that I needed a summer job. I ended up becoming a waitress for a small town, family-style restaurant. Yet, this seemed to just add to my stress.
I was constantly worrying about doing something wrong, along with my worries about getting along with my family and not having someone to vent to.
As my job started to become a normal part of my schedule, I started working on Sundays, my usual day of worship and rest.
And as my job started demanding more time from me, I started giving less time to God...
I have always struggled with being in the word of God, but now I was in it less than I ever have been before. This past weekend, I finally made it to a church service. As I was reading my Bible, I came across a few verses that made me sit back and think about how I haven't been living for God the way I should be. So here are three quotes that have changed my mindset of how I should go about my everyday life.
1. "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you," James 4:7-8.
These verses spoke to me for numerous reasons. The week before this service, I had been praying a lot. I prayed for the safety of my boyfriend, for wealth from my job, and for my own mental health through these rough times. After reading these verses, I realized that I wanted God to do all of these things for me, but what had I been doing for Him?
Going to one church service wasn't enough.
I needed to hear his word more often, praise his name through worship music daily instead of once a week, and share his word with others, so that they can receive the same gift I need to cherish more: salvation.
2. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever," Hebrews 13:8.
This verse is one of the hardest for me to remember in my daily life. As times had gotten rough, I had put God down like a book that I grew uninterested in.
But, as this verse reminds us, the God of the good times is still the same God as in the bad times.
Just because I am going through something bad doesn't mean that God doesn't love me any less than he did before. Through this verse, I realized that my sadness shouldn't reflect upon my faith. Instead, I should be leaning on him to take my pain away and pursue him even harder in these times.
3. "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ," Colossians 3:23-24.
While reading this verse, I truly felt guilty. Although I felt like my summer has been awful compared to past ones, I forgot that God has a will for me and that this is part of it. Throughout my job, my relationship, and my family problems, I had been stuck in my own head instead of thinking about how God would want me to handle this.
Instead of glorifying Him by encouraging my boyfriend, loving my family, and sharing His name in my workplace, I was feeling pity for myself.
At this point, I was completely convicted and knew that I needed to find some way to glorify God in my life.
This meant making changes. From now on, I want to show the world my love for God and live as an example of my faith rather than hiding God away in the tough times. This decision led me to post about my faith, whether it's all praises or all struggles, to hopefully help lead others to God.
