After my Econ class today, it was snowing really hard, and as I walked towards Padnos Hall where I would meet with my advisor, the wind was pelting the snow into my face. I had to walk with my head turned sideways and angled slightly downward to avoid the uncomfortable pellets. I know I almost ran into some people and I'm sure that there were others I barely missed that I didn't even notice.
I've been thinking a lot lately about suffering. It was the topic of Pastor Bill's message Sunday morning. We discussed it Sunday night in our Bible study, and it was brought up by other people yesterday at Barnes and Noble.
We often treat suffering with the same attitude that I treated the pelting snow today. With the freezing cold conditions today, my brain may not be functioning at its highest capabilities, but hear me out:
When I'm facing trials, I often try to avoid them as much as possible by turning my head to the side and not keeping my eyes on the path. What I should do is face them with the confidence that God gives us when He tells us that He will work all things together for the good of those who love Him. When I just go along with my head turned, I run the risk of running into something that could be pretty bad for me. I could slip on a patch of ice that I wasn't watching out for. I could run into the football team's linebacker and get beat up in the process. I could walk right into traffic. Looking back on some trials in my life, I realize how much God was working through them and guiding me so that in the end, I was better because of it. With my head turned to avoid some of the pain, I missed being able to see God leading me. I ran the risk of believing that God wasn't leading me through the tough times. By not always acknowledging God's guidance, I probably ran into some stuff that I could have avoided. Lesson learned: God's always in control of the situation, and even when it seems like He's distant or not guiding you, it could just be because you're looking to the side in an effort to save yourself from what you're going through. Look straight ahead and trust God to guide you through your trials, because He WILL work them out for the best.
I don't know if that even made sense, but it was a cheap way to tie in the current situation with something I've wanted to say for a while.
For those of you stuck inside with no windows, when I say "current situation" I mean the falling snow and chilly air.
I'm so excited for the Bible study that the high schoolers and some college kids have started on Sunday nights. We're also meeting on Tuesday nights because eventually, Jamey will probably resume GEW or something similar for the high schoolers on Sunday nights. Last night, we continued our discussion about security of salvation by fleshing out what it truly means to be saved, how predestined we actually are, and admitting that we really can't know as much as we're trying to. The two best quotes of the night were both by Shannon:
"I am not God."
"Ryan is not God, either."
Next time we'll be discussing war. I'm looking forward to it because I don't think I've ever had a good discussion about the moral issues of war and how it's played out in the Bible vs. today's time.
I can't wait for next week. I only have school on Monday and Tuesday, and then a 5-day weekend!!!
The only bad part about it is that I have to finish a paper on Social Security reform and take a two-day test in Chemistry before I actually get to enjoy that weekend.
I do have plenty of time to complete my paper since I was mysteriously given 3 days off this week at work. I was off yesterday, today, and I'll also be off tomorrow.
This is the first Wednesday that I have not had to work since I started at Hage's so I can finally attend Nite Life and hang out with the middle schoolers. I really enjoy spending time with those guys. They're a lot of fun.
As this post gets longer and longer, my Social Security paper stays the same length, so I must end the update for now.
Until next time.
