Brokenness for Glory

College is a funny place. You get the privilege (or annoyance) of living with your dearest friends whether that is in the same room, dorm building, apartment, or campus. I showed up as an 18 year old who thought she had life figured out. Period. No changes needed in my life. God had quite a different plan for me (I wanted to be an accountant). I will be graduating with a degree in Religion. God’s sense of humor never fails to surprise me.

My junior year has been full of change, difficulty, heartache, joy, laughter, peace, chaos, direction, and confusion. Notice the opposites. Ecclesiastes tells us that “for everything there is a season.” The Lord has been challenging me to step into new positions that I haven’t felt prepared for. I get the privilege of student leading a mission trip to South Africa this summer as well as working as an intern for the Well. Two totally amazing positions that I thought I wasn’t ready for. New friends have come into my life and older friendships have transitioned out. I’m never comfortable losing touch with those I care about, but I am learning that certain people only stay for a season. We should cherish the good and look back fondly on the memories.

My point in all of this is that we don’t get to choose when we want to glorify God and when we want to wallow in our own selfishness. We are called to glorify God in the midst of all circumstances. When I feel broken, I will choose to glorify God. When I am abounding in joy, I will choose to glorify God. When I experience pain, heartache, laughter, peace, contentment, or frustration, I will choose to glorify God. We can’t wait until the trials are finally over and we just made it out alive. We serve a gracious, loving, compassionate, kind, just, and good God. I am working on praising God in the midst of all circumstances, and I have found his favor throughout my days. The Lord is so, so good, friends.

“When I don’t understand, I get to choose to love you God.”