Lessons to be Learned

I realized today that this summer is going to be filled with many lessons the Lord is going to teach me. There are a few, however, that I think are going to be a lot more obvious than others.

First, I know that the Lord is going to be teaching me the lesson of being selfless. Moving back home from college is always an interesting experience especially during the first few weeks of being back. =] I believe it was this past Christmas break that I truly realized how selfish college students can be. (Now, maybe I am just realizing that I in particular am extremely selfish which I know is the case.) At college, students do not really have to look out for others. True, we have to be mindful and thoughtful towards our roommates, wingmates, and friends, but are we really making personal sacrifices for others? We decide for ourselves when we want to eat, when we want to do homework, when we want to take a break from homework, when we want to sleep, when we want to exercise, etc. True, we might wait for somebody to go to dinner, but, in reality, we operate on our own time schedule. When I come home, I have to be mindful of the other people I am living with. I have to keep in mind that I need to be taking care of others; I do not just have only myself to take care of. I need to take care of my dishes, keep my room clean, keep my stuff from being sprawled all over the house, when I make myself food I should offer to share with others, etc. Each time I come home it's like I have to "reprogram" my brain for a type of "home living" setting. But this should not be the case! Philippians 2:3-7 says, "Do nothing form rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men." We are to be selfless because Christ was selfless. The mindset of servanthood and thinking of others above myself should be a mindset that I have ALL of the time. I pray that I would learn to be selfless not only here at home, but also at school and wherever else the Lord has me.

The second lesson that I know the Lord will be teaching me this summer is the lesson of patience/contentment/surrender/waiting upon the Lord, etc. There are a few aspects of my life that I would very much like to have the answer to right now. Not knowing these answers is really hard because I very much like to plan ahead; I like to have all my ducks in a nice, neat row. I like to know where my life is going. I am beginning to learn that being super organized is both a blessing and a curse. (and a curse in the sense of it prevents me from being flexible to some extent) This summer will be filled with a lot of praying and waiting upon the Lord; I will be learning to be patient in many different areas. God acts according to HIS time schedule, not on the time schedule of Katherine. Psalm 37:5 is a constant reminder to me of God's sovereignty; it says, "Commit your way to the Lord. Trust in Him; and He will act." As long as I am trusting the Lord and being obedient to Him, I can be confident that He will act according to His will and according to what He sees as best for me and others.

This summer will be one where a lot of things I KNOW are going to be solidified into things that I truly BELIEVE. For instance, I KNOW that I can only be satisfied in God alone and that true joy can only come from Him, but do I really BELIEVE that? I KNOW I have the ability to exercise patience (because it is one of the Fruits of the Spirit) and to choose to be content, but do I really BELIEVE that I can wait? I have the head knowledge, but now I need to live out that knowledge in daily life. I need to be a doer of the Word and not just a hearer. (James 1:22)