The box. Take God out of it…

At the end of my first year in Bible college, God taught me perhaps the biggest lesson about His character. Today as I was helping my mom unpack the last of her things, I had a flash back to that time in my life. Today I would like to share the story: After I graduated high school I didn’t go directly to college partially because my family thought I was too young to be away in a secular environment by myself and partially because I also did not feel ready for it. I worked for a bit to learn about life and financial responsibility. Then I made the best decision I ever made, I decided to go to Bible College. Not a Christian College, but a school completely dedicated to teaching the Bible. It was the best two years of my life. I made friendships that span many countries and will continue on in Heaven. I learned about God, about myself, but most importantly my faith was now my own. No longer were my beliefs just values passed down from my parents, now I could say without a doubt that I believed God to be true, because I had experienced Him for myself. The one memory that stands out the most happened the last week of my first semester. In the final week of each semester each student would pack up all they owned and clean the dorm they lived in. Prior to the starting of the new semester sometimes new rooms were assigned. Packing up for me was a little different, though. Due to my financial situation packing meant that my first semester would also be my last. I remember the day clearly. I got up in the morning devastated at the thought of leaving never to return. I sat in my bunk looked out my window and started talking to God. It was the oddest thing because it wasn’t a prayer. It was an actually conversation (as though He was right in front of me). I told God how sad I was to not be able to see the journey that He set me on to the end. I thanked Him for all that I had learned. I praised Him, because my heart knew that even if I had to go home, He still deserved praise. I then got out of my bunk packed all my belongs and set out to clean my dorm. As I cleaned my conversation with God continued. In the midst of our convo I heard it, a voice say, “Unpack” (literally heard it). I shook it off and  continued  cleaning then I heard it again, “Unpack.” So…I did. I put my clothes in drawers and in the closet. I made the room my home. Not one box was left. I looked around and had this thought, “I hope that was you God, because if it wasn’t. I am now officially crazy.” I left my dorm and walked to the office to see if I had any mail. As I entered the door, I was greeted by the school’s financial officer. He said, “Hey, I was just about to come look for you. Step into my office for a bit.” I was nervous, I knew I didn’t have the funds for a second semester. We walked to his office, he sat behind his desk, looked up at me, smiled, and said these words. “Your next two years of school have been paid in FULL.” I looked at him, clearly I am dreaming (I think I remember pinching myself to be sure). “What?!” I knew it couldn’t have been my parents, and I had no rich relatives that I knew of. My next question, “How?!” “We received a check for you from and an anonymous donor”, at which point he showed me the check. He made a deliberate gesture at the signature line, it read… Yahew. In the memo line 1 John 5:14 (along with my name). I was floored. I walked back to my dorm in a daze. God had just paid for me to go to school in FULL! And all I had to do was UNPACK! Why did my day remind of this story? When the last box was officially unpacked, I had this thought: “I hope this is you God, because if it’s not, I am now officially crazy.”

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (1 John 5:14).

Lesson: Unpack. Make where God has placed you, home. Then be crazy enough to trust Him with the rest. Sometimes a little crazy is a good thing 😉 .