You’ll miss out if you keep looking back
By Erin McNew | Staff Writer
Photo credit: Donna Irene Photography
It’s finals week here at Texas A&M. And our greatest tests are just beginning. Because let me tell you, ladies, the true tests we face in life don’t involve a textbook. They have nothing to do with a class. They aren’t proctored by a professor.
It’s been a difficult week. A trying and stressful one to say the least. And, for the first time in my college career, finals are just the icing on the cake rather than the cake itself. That’s a step forward for me. I struggle with pretty incredible test anxiety, so that’s most definitely a statement I’ve never been able to utter until now.
With that in mind, I have a little bit of a letter for you.
Ladies,
You are not your struggle. I saw the most incredible video online today. It’s called “Wilderness, Depression, & the Stars in the Sky,” and it features one of my new favorite quotations. “It’s as if sometimes there are things we can only see in the dark.”
Sometimes we fall upon difficult times and situations. We’ll wonder why they happened to us. We’ll find ways to take blame. We’ll brood on the scars it’s inflicting on us. We’ll ask God to give us things. But we’ll neglect to do the things He’s asking of us.
Your story is incredible. But with that incredible nature sometimes come incredible flaws or trial. Don’t focus on the struggle itself. Ask for the eyes of God. His perspective is clarifying and perspective granting. He will show you the reasoning for the context you currently reside in, in His time if you only remain patient and allow Him the opportunity to make His timing manifest. His timing is different from ours. What may be years to us could be an instant to Him. Know that your waiting is purposeful. And He wouldn’t place the burden of waiting on you if it was not going to serve His means.
It’s not your fault. You could not foresee your situation or the wrongs committed against you. There’s this incredible quote that says, “you can’t see the bigger picture from inside the frame.” Don’t place pressure on yourself where pressure doesn’t belong. It’s easy for our eyes to be made blind when the intentions of our heart are incongruent with what we see. Don’t make yourself out to be foolish or insufficient because you looked with your heart. You were put in your situation for a reason. You were allowed to endure your struggle because God knew it wouldn’t break you. He knew that it would only make you stronger.
Don’t brood on your scars. Embrace them. You have a story. And though parts of it may be difficult to come to terms with, they’re all yours. They’re a testimony to God’s grace and love if you only allow yourself the time to discover it. But you can’t see what’s right in front of you if you are distracted by what’s behind you. Keep your chin up. You are still beautiful. You are still loved. You are still you.
Ask not what God can give you, but what you can give God. Take a deep breath. You have the ability to control your situation simply by approaching it with a healthy and rational mindset. Don’t always just ask God to give you peace or a resolution. Ask Him how you can act according to His will. Ask Him what you can do to gain peace. Ask Him how you can draw closer to Him in your time of need. I promise you those answers reside inside of you or will make themselves apparent.
You are loved, beautiful. God won’t let you fall. He won’t let you go. You were given this struggle because you are equipped with the strength through your Heavenly Father to handle it. Have faith in Him and in yourself. He’s holding your life in His Hand and all He longs to do is enrich it with his grace, forgiveness and understanding. Allow Him the opportunity to do so and watch your potential blossom. The most beautiful flowers bloom in adversity.
Praying for you always, darling. Keep your cute little chin up. You’ve got this and He’s got you.
“Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her.” – Hosea 2:14
P.S. You are enough.
