Walking through life is hard and walking with God can seem almost impossible. How am I suppose to fit in time with God when I don't even have time to sleep? It can be a hard to make time for God when finals, midterms, papers and group projects seem to take every second away from us. Students don't see God as important or not nearly as important as they would is a grade didn't depend on finishing a paper.
It's kind of crazy to think that we worry so much about a paper or a grade that we receive that we forget about God. Currently, as a senior, I could not tell you what I received on a major paper that I wrote as a freshman, and I am guessing you can't either. Students worry so much about what the professor thinks or how this test will determine their future that they forget who really gives them a future. God gives you a future.
Only four years of your life are dedicated to college yet we make it everything. We can only talk about a test or how hard a professor is. We know our roommates' schedules and when the best times to go to the library are. Students focus on this so much that they lose touch with the outside world. College students become so focused on their GPA as if that is what will define them and I am not alone on that. We tend to forget that what we do is not for a grade or for a number, but for God.
It's funny that we can all say that we trust God ultimately and yet we don't put trust in Him to help us with trigonometry. Do we truly believe that God can't help us pass or does not know anything about trig?
"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. " (1 Peter 5:6-7)
God wants us to cast all of our anxieties on Him. He can handle the load. Jesus already took on our sins and He doesn't stop there. God just wants us to willing to reach out to Him because He wants us to show Him that we care too. God's love is so gracious and endless.
Honestly, we don't deserve anything. We don't serve God and we don't deserve to go to college. College is a gift (regardless of the student loans) that not everyone has the opportunity to receive. This gift is only granted by the grace of God and he wants us to find joy in it and if we have any burdens to share them with Him. So, if we call ourselves followers of Christ then we need to follow Him even when we want to pull our hair out before finals.
As a student still in school I can feel the pressure of jobs and school. I, myself, haven't always been the best Christian or disciple. I missed quiet times, I doubted God. I let the pressure and the world around me make its way into my head and tell me that my life will be over if I mess up. At times, I need to remind myself that I am fearfully and wonderfully made by God and that He gave up everything for me so giving up an hour of my time for Him is nothing.
"Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." (Matthew 11:11)
Even when we are at our least we are still better than John the baptist in the eyes of Jesus. God knows we will struggle and yet Jesus came for the sick and broken. We become that during college and life. Don't let the four-plus years of college separate you from God. We will never know how much longer we have on this earth and putting God first, always gives you more than the time you have in college. He wants to give us that amount of time. If you do happen to miss time with God, don't feel guilty in getting that time back! Just be with Him and continue your blessed walk with Jesus!