Instructions

I moved back from Illinois to my home in Marion, Indiana, this weekend. There were several hiccups along the way, and there was a time when I genuinely had no idea if I would be able to move in on my scheduled time, creating a ton of stress and anxiety. Once again, God took care of me, and everything worked out just fine (for the most part). I learned two things this weekend that were on my heart to share, so I want to take time to share.  

#1- For those of you that don’t know, I’m really into Dinosaurs. They’ve always fascinated me, and I have a lot of Dinosaur Decor for my new dorm room this year. It’s different because I’m sharing a room this year instead of having it all to myself. Luckily, my roommate and suitemates are as much into dinosaurs as I am. While living in Ohio this summer, I visited a Target in Toledo. When I was there, I saw this really cool-looking shower curtain with Dinosaurs on it. I wanted to buy it, but I thought I’ll be home in just a few weeks, and my mom and dad enjoy buying little things like that for me, so I’ll just wait and get it when I’m with them. So over the 7 days I spent with my parents, we visited four different Targets, and not one had a Dinosaur Shower Curtain in stock. As I was unpacking and organizing everything today, I really got to thinking. How often in life do we chase things we never truly find? For me, this weekend, it was a dinosaur shower curtain. For others, it may be Happiness or a “successful” life. You see, when we choose to chase after things other than Christ Jesus, we end up high and dry. Matthew 6:33 says, “But Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you”. The one word that really stuck out to me there was first. We should always be Chasing after Jesus first in our life. When we do that, we find fulfillment, unlike anything we could ever imagine. 

#2- So, while visiting one of the Targets, I purchased a “Build your own Dinosaur” kit from the discount aisle in the front of the store. It’s a super cool-looking piece and It came with 20 or so different plastic pieces that had to be screwed together with plastic screws in just the right order to get the entire dinosaur. So tonight, I opened the box, looked at the pieces, and tried to put it together. As I’m trying to put the pieces together, I got increasingly frustrated as I couldn’t figure out which pieces go where. I then realized I hadn’t even looked at the instructions! After looking at the instructions for just a few minutes, everything started to make sense. I then got to thinking, as humans, we tend to do that in life a lot. You see, God designed the Bible to be our ultimate instruction guide in life. Just like the instructions to my dinosaur, it gives wisdom to things we often don’t understand. If we don’t read it, we’re going to get frustrated and want to give up. When we make digging into it a part of our daily routine and really take time to soak in his presence and his word, a sense of peace comes to us that is just incredible. Are things going to be perfect 110% of the time just because you choose to read your bible? Absolutely not, but it will make things easier for us to understand when hard times come our way. 

As I start this new school year, more than ever, I want to continue to chase after Jesus and his plan for my life as well as sharing him each and every day. My life verse is 1st Timothy 4:12 and it says “Don’t let anybody think less of you because you are young, but be an example to all believers in what you say, in how you live your life, your love, faith, and purity”. I want to try and continue to live that out this year. Can’t wait to see how God will continue to use me for his glory as I start my sophomore year!