For anyone who has doubts, pray. For anyone who needs direction, pray. For anyone who is unsure, pray. For anyone who wants to be better, pray. For anyone who is feeling thankful, pray. For anyone who is feeling alone, pray. For anyone who has prayed and did not see results, keep praying. A misconception that I have fallen into before, was thinking and believing that God could not hear my prayers because I could not see results. I always would question His love and thought maybe God did not love me because I could never hear Him. It put a wrench in my relationship with Christ because I did not believe I was loved by Him. Messages sent from God, I shunned away. Quite frankly, I had no hope. I built hopeless friendships, hopeless relationships, hopeless dreams because I was not fulfilled with God; I was not fulfilled with Love. I was unaware of the impact I left on those around me, intentionally and unintentionally. I claimed to be a Godly person with great intentions, but I was living out of a state of unhappiness, resentment, anger, out of a state of survival in order to just get by and be “okay.” In reality, I was not okay. “Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience." Colossians 3:12 NLT
It is important to recognize when you are not okay and more important to get back to a place of God, so that as you go about your life fulfilling your purpose and His will for you, you are fulfilling a life of substance. The reason why you do everything should be God; God is love. Living through Christ is to be merciful, being kind to yourself and others, showing humility, learning to be gentle and having patience. Through prayer, being gentle with myself, and being patient with the process of growth, in Him, I was restored. As I started wholeheartedly believing that I was loved by God, that he was on my side and in fact THERE FOR ME at all times, the relationships built off of inadequacy diminished, my hopelessness was restored with HOPEFULness and most importantly, the Lord helped to shed my old, worn out clothes and clothe myself in Him. Throughout college, you inevitably run into people from many different walks of life, with different backgrounds and upbringings. College is also a time where you are away from your parents, who would typically be in your ear about what is morally right or wrong, but a constant is always God. Building and connecting from Him, is always a means for success! Wherever you go and whatever you do, choose God always, over the loud background noise, the pain, or hurt, and He will ALWAYS CHOOSE YOU!