My first Semester

Colossians 3:23-24

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." 

My first semester in my doctoral program is complete! Round of applause, say a prayer and thank Jesus!! Whew. You guys have no idea how much this program challenged me and caused me to question my capabilities and whether or not this was something I really wanted to do and most importantly whether it was God's plan for me. My biggest regret is that I did not blog throughout my studies. However, it's a learning process and next semester I will commit to blogging at least once or twice a month. Please keep me in your prayers and if you notice that I am not doing so call me out on it. Next semester will be busier than the first, but I can do all things through Christ. Plus, i truly believe he wants me to write and encourage more. My heart breaks to think that someone somewhere received encouragement through my blogs and once I stopped that encouragement could no longer be provided. 

The text I wrote above is for anyone struggling on a job, in a class, program, or struggling staying at home etc. It says whatever you do. It does not say some jobs, some titles, or A job meaning you have to be employed. It says whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as if you were working for the Creator of the Universe. Now stop for a second, if you were working for the Lord would you give your best, your worst or somewhere in between? I personally would make an effort to give my best. My job could be to clean his toilet. If it was God's toilet, I would make sure that toilet was bleached, scrubbed and smelling good. I would not complain or grumble because my focus would not be on the task itself. It would be on him. 

This semester made me question so many things. At times I found myself angry and regretting that I was here. Can you believe it? I asked God for this and the opportunity I asked him for I was complaining about. Just like we may ask God for a spouse and then we complain about the disagreements or the bad habits and make them bigger than they really need to be. As humans, we are so incredibly difficult to please. There is nothing wrong with feeling discouraged or wanting to give up. At times we will be placed in situations that are difficult to work in or people who are difficult to work with or for. But what does God's word say? It says to walk into that situation as if God was your boss. Walk into that classroom as if God was your teacher. Write that paper as if God would be grading it. Give it your all. Work hard. We tend to think that only pastors, preachers, missionaries and gospel artists are people who work for the Lord. One of the devil's lie. As a christian, you work for the Lord as a student, accountant, doctor, housewife, police officer etc. You represent Christ at all times..every day of the week. You don't even have to witness "verbally" to someone to tell them about our Savior. 

People are watching how you LIVE. They are observing how you handle difficult people, situations. They are observing how you treat someone who could do everything for you and who can do absolutely nothing for you. They are observing how you respond to them when they disrespect your Lord and say how crazy you are for believing etc. Will you respond in love? Or will you also lash out and begin a social media war with them because of disagreement? I had a disagreement with a very close friend of mine who I love dearly earlier this week. We were both so passionate about our beliefs and we kept going on and on. We are also both Christian. I know I could have handled that situation better. Perhaps he could have as well. However, the only person I am in control of is me. I should have responded lovingly to him. My thoughts and even my sarcastic comments did not represent Christ. It represented someone who was angry and disappointed that my thoughts were not being heard. 

So why should we work as if we are working for the Lord and representing him at all times? The text explains because we know (believers) we will receive our inheritance from God as our reward. At the end of the day... we are serving God when we serve others. My first semester was a success. I received good grades and I am beyond happy about that, however I have a greater reward waiting for me some day. One I look forward to receiving. I pray that regardless of the situations you may find yourself in, you will serve God. Keep those eyes focused. Pray always and remain thankful. I love you all! 

Cheers to having some free time! LOL 

xoxo