College. This is the time of my life that I have been dreaming about forever, and it’s here. It’s been here for the past two months, and I love it. It’s better than I could have ever imagined, and believe me, I sure imagined. I can distinctly remember being in the fifth grade, and playing make-believe with a little girl friend of mine. What were we pretending to be? College girls and we were trying to emulate the “college girl” dress and attitude that was modeled for us through television and Mary-Kate and Ashley. Or once again as a rebellious fifteen year old vying for the day I could escape the oppressive hold of my staunch parents. Then six months ago that reality sunk in, and the “oppressive” parents I longed to rid myself of now were the parents I desperately clung to. Needless to say, the college I imagined was vastly different from the college I am experiencing, and in all the right ways. I thought that once I finally made it to college I would THEN be satisfied with where I was, but once again, I sometimes find myself attempting to live in the future. What classes should I take next semester, and the one after that? What will I do once I graduate and where will I live? When will I meet my future husband? All of these unnecessary anxieties cloud my ability to enjoy the present. Timely enough, my daily devotion, Jesus Calling, reminded me that when I feel anxiety based on my future it is because I am picturing my future without the comfort and protection of the Lord. I need to remember He will be with me wherever I go, temporally and locationally speaking. That is easier said than done, at least for me. And even after realizing that, I still find myself wondering when will I be satisfied? I must embrace each moment with gratitude and cherish it for the gift that it is. And after all, worrying never did add a moment to my life!
More need truth today: Lamentations 3:22-26. I knew that I loved these verses but had forgotten why until just yesterday. Let me share the gripping words of Jeremiah “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion therefore I will wait for Him.’ The Lord is good to those whose help is in Him, to the one who seeks Him. It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” Those verses just nailed me right in the heart. How perfect are the Lord’s words, and how applicable! That was written over 2500 years ago…whoa. Being so captivated by these words I whipped out my handy-dandy immense Bible required for my Bible class and looked these up along with the notes and commentary (This Bible is massive!). I was really intrigued by the repeated use of the word “good” so I looked at the note for verse 25 and it led me to Psalm 34:8 which lead me to Psalm 1:1. As I flipped through page after page, my impatient self began to get slightly perturbed by my goose chase until it struck me: This passage is so rooted in Scripture, that I have to dig halfway to China to find where it starts! Now that’s awesome; I love how the same powerful themes are woven all throughout Scripture, New and Old Testament. Arriving in Psalm 1:1 I found that the original meaning of “good” is “blessed” which is defined as the happy condition of those who revere the Lord and do His will. Well I’ll be.
As I continued to look at this passage, I realized yet another note about Lamentations 3. It was originally written as an acrostic poem, with the verses of each stanza beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Now if that’s not cool I don’t know what is! And so, my fascination with yet another incredibly useful, applicable in everyday life, language has deepened (as if Latin wasn’t enough).
I will try to wait upon the Lord and I will fail but thankfully He has new mercies for me each and every new day.
Be אֶשֶׁר. (that’s blessed in Hebrew!!!!) (:
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