Trials Produce Unwavering Faith

College is a time period where you grow your personality, shape your future, and become your own individual. In order to accomplish these things, we are are told it is in our best interest to create a plan and follow it to the best of our ability. Parents, teachers, and mentors stress that we follow this route and do not veer off track, or we will never accomplish our goals. I am now a Junior in college and let me be the first to tell you, the plan I made before entering college has gone almost completely opposite of how I intended it to go. I planned to come in my freshman year and be a 4.0 honors student, starting two-sport athlete, with different volunteer and club experiences, maintaining a small income working on-campus, all the while maintaining an active social life. I had planned out times and dates I would attend different events; I would fill my daily schedule with a million things to achieve. I did this every day to ensure I stuck to my plan and accomplished all my goals. God had a different plan for me though. During my freshman year, when I was starting to pursue my plan up at school, I was rushed to the ER, diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. Blood Clots in my arm and lungs. This was not in my plans. This was not in the schedule. This was not going to fit with what I needed to do to accomplish my goals. All the plans I had made were at this point worthless, I could potentially not see the day where those plans were accomplished. While I sat in the hospital bed that week, missing out on the millions of plans I scheduled, I realized that God was testing me. He put a huge roadblock in my life, but He also gave me the strength and ability needed in order to find a way around

it. He tested my faith and helped me grow because of the pain and suffering I went through. I learned my plans aren’t that important and it doesn’t matter if I stick exactly to the script. It only matters if I stick to God's plans and if I adapt to God's way. “Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness (James 1:2).” God puts trials in our lives to reveal our need for His wisdom. When you go through your days in college do not fear experiencing trials, instead embrace them. Know that God is always with you and that He is placing that obstacle in your life so that you can grow deeper in your faith with Him. Trials

are blessings. They bring us back to God. Sometimes it may feel like we will never get through them, but we will. We just need to continue to learn to lean on God and ask him for help, because He is there, and He wants to help. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given (James 1:5).”  Dear God,  Thank you for putting these trials in my life, please continue to teach me the importance of following Your plan.  Please give me the courage to ask You for help during the different obstacles I face and give me the strength to deal with them in faith. Amen