Thoughts of a Young Christian Woman: Faith Is A Funny Thing

I Walk By Faith

I love talking about bible stories. I get excited just thinking about the awesome things God has done throughout the old and new testaments. There's action, and romance, and drama, and miracles, and there is a lesson to be learned in every adventure.

After getting into the word, it's not hard to see that God is a big God. He made big gestures and gave these miraculous signs. He split the red sea for Moses, gave Samson super-human strength, joined Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego in the fiery furnace. God sent fire down from heaven and revealed His glorious power time and time again.

When leaving high school, that's what I was looking for. I wanted God to act as He did then; to send down fire just to lead me in the right direction, like He did for the Israelites. Don't get me wrong, He is the same God yesterday, today, and forever. But, He didn't send me a sign in bright neon lights.

That's what I was expecting, though. I was asking God to lead me and yet no miracle from heaven fell from the sky. I was months from graduation and still unsure of where my life was headed. I prayed for a clear direction. There was no voice telling me what to do. There wasn't even a feeling pulling me in a certain direction. I felt lost.

There was so much gravity on my decisions for the future, and I haf to be sure that God was taking me where I needed to go. Sadly, I felt like the only way of knowing for sure was to have God blast me in the face with a sign. Instead of trusting Him, I depended on my feelings. I was walking by sight, not faith.

We're supposed to expect God to lead us. But we don't always feel led. I felt completely abandoned. I felt like I was in the middle of the ocean, lost at sea. But, there was a current pulling me. I couldn't feel it, but there I was, three months after graduation, at a college studying for a degree.

I still felt lost, though. I didn't like any of my classes, or any of my classmates. I felt alone and miserable. It was like I had finally found land, but it was an abandoned island and I was no where closer to home. I was praying for direction; I was praying to follow God's will. The problem was, I didn't know how to follow without a lead.

I know now that if we pray to be in God's will, and truly mean it, that's exactly where we'll be. Being in the will of God isn't always obvious, though, because it's not always comfortable. Do you think Joseph liked being sold into slavery by his brothers? Do you think Daniel liked being in the Lion's den?

God put me right where He wanted me. I wasn't studying the degree I'd have a career in and I wasn't at the college I'd be graduating from, but God had me there for a purpose. I was in honor's biology and the class was very evolution-oriented. I had to read the book "Your Inner Fish" and at the end of the semester, write a paper about a topic from the book. I decided to write my paper about the discrepancies of evolution.

In the conclusion of my paper, I decided to briefly state my belief in creation. I told my professor that he wasn't a happenstance of nature, that he was created and loved by God. I turned in my paper the last day of class (it was technically our final exam as well) and he was supposed to email us our grade and notes on the paper.

I never heard from him. I asked classmates, and they had received their emails, but I got nothing. I only attended that college for one semester, so I never saw him again. Even if God didn't use my paper to reach out to my professor, there semester was not a waste. Believing in God's word and in creation is not from ignorance. I'm not naive or uneducated. We extensively studied evolution in that class, and it was another way of testing my faith. I disliked every moment of going to that school, but God turned my situation completely around.

Two weeks after discovering the career of surgical technology, I was at a college visit, determined to change my major. After months of feeling lost and unhappy, I was excited about my future. It was like I blinked and suddenly life was fitting into place. I thought I was shipwrecked, but God was leading me home. I felt like I had a purpose again. Today, I am in the final quarter of my schooling and will be getting my degree in the fall of 2017.

Every step I take is led by God, no matter what my feelings are. Sometimes God will be a crashing wave, and sometimes He's a silent current. Either way, He is a powerful, moving force that I can always depend on.

My faith will continue to be tested. Greater trials are yet to be faced. I don't know what tomorrow will bring; what sorrows await me; what joys will come my way, but my God has led me this far, and He will lead me home.

Author's note:

Hope you enjoyed this 7 part devotional! I'm afraid that's all there will be for this book. :(

However!!!

I have a new devotional: "Adulting Is Hard"

Check it out if you enjoy my writing! :)

God bless,
AJ Rex