nothing to something.

Ever since planning SNA this year for December, the message we were conveying really stuck in my head. The overarching message was that everything is meaningless. Everything fades, from relationships to materialistic things, that all things will fail us and that we are putting our hope in the wrong things. We should put our faith and hope in Lord Jesus Christ because he lives, and he's promised to love us back, unconditionally and eternally. We should put our hope in something worth putting our hope into. Knowing God will never fail and will never fade assures us that this is the right choice.

After thinking that through, i keep thinking, why are we doing this then? Whats the point, of getting these academics, going to university, getting that degree that'll fade, working to have a career, why can't we just give up on this?

I said that during our devotions last night at AGAPE and my counsellor gave me an answer that really got me thinking and really answered my question. He started with a story. Saying that one time on the street a friend said to another, "how can i help this homeless man?", and the friend responded with nothing at the moment, but you can work hard, study hard until you have a position of influence to then help this man.

I think this whole time i've just been thinking about myself. Where does all this take me, how will it benefit me. But from what i got out of it, its completely different. God gave us talents and gifts and passions, for instance, mine is Wildlife Biology, and he's also given us opportunities and privileges, if you can read this, you have internet, and if you're going to university, you are a part of 2% of the richest people in the world. God's granted us education, and its with this, the passion, the opportunities for us to work hard to help others. Not so you can get a good job a good pay a good car and a good house, but to be in a position of influence to help others.

¹¹For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11

Fears.

You got your fears I got mine. It may be from spiders to failing out of school.

For me, it’s not getting into university. I know why am I thinking about this already? I’m only in grade 11. Yeah yeah I’ve heard all that. But honestly, I don’t know what courses that I’m going to take next year. I don’t have many pre-reqs and it’s just a constant struggle that I’ve been facing. Semester 1 almost at an end. It’s the final push to get all our marks up before exams come.

Math. Who knows what I’m getting now but I know it’s not something that I want. I’ve been trying so hard and every test. Fail. Fail. Fail. Who knows what I’ll get. Possibly a passing grade. Well that’s what I’m hoping for. I don’t know what to say to God except why. WHY ME? My siblings all got 90s in math and then there’s me.

In today’s devos, Rick Warren says: “Your fears reveal where you do not trust God. Today, make a list of your fears, and ask God to help you identify why you have fear in those areas. Then, ask him to help you replace your fears with trust.”

This line hit me hard. I realized that I put my fears in front of God. I didn’t think about how this challenge will benefit me in the future. Trust is a big word. It takes time and accountability to achieve it.

Rejoice.

²⁴ The LORD has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.

Rejoice. Its important that we rejoice, firstly, happiness is always better than sadness, its just a better feeling. It promotes optimism and joy in one's life.

I remember reading a verse that states "to rejoice in all circumstances". Whether it may be sad, something horrid, anything that happens try to learn to rejoice because our God is good.

Rejoice can also mean thanksgiving. Look around you and realize how blessed we are. Yesterday someone came in and talked about clean water, how much we use it and it really opened my eyes and reminded me how blessed i truly am. Its so unfair to others and we're just absorbing all these resources, the gap between the rich and the poor is so wide. Be thankful and count your blessings.

Reflect on how powerful God is. He has the power to destroy you in an instant, you may not wake up tomorrow. Who knows. Im not trying to scare you, but really live each moment and make it count. Sometimes i wake up and i think God for just giving me another day to live. We complain about school, about work, but think about the people that dont even have the chance to know how it feels to learn. We're SO blessed and we all take it for granted.

I remember thinking back to my kids, overnight camp, day camp, and just seeing the joy in them, and how carefree they are and how happy they are, its... so freeing i guess you can say. At an age like mine, we stress over school, over friends, but these guys, they're just... free as birds, enjoying life and enjoying what they have. I think we need a bit of that in our lives regularly. To just rejoice, and enjoy what we've been given.

Rejoice. Rejoice. Rejoice.

Jason