JOHN 9:5 (KJV)
Have you been in class when the teacher’s words fade slowly away and that fly buzzing around the room becomes more interesting than Antarctica’s geography? During one of those afternoons, my perspective on life changed. I sat in a wooden desk between four white walls staring up at the ceiling. One florescent light bulb was flickering on, then off, with no predictable rhythm. Just when I thought it was out for good, it flashed back on, brighter than ever. The challenges of my junior year were suffocating me. I was struggling with things I had been warned would come, but they were the kinds of things that you cannot understand until you actually go through them. That year, I had watched many close relationships disintegrate into ashes. I knew that God was there and would help me out, but I impatiently wanted to know when. I read the story of Joseph and though I had heard it hundreds of times, this time it seemed different. Joseph was seventeen, my age, when his own brothers sold him. While facing turmoil, he had no clue that God would bring so many great things into his life. He just had to stick it out. In that classroom, I discovered that life is like the flickering light bulb. It is scary when things get dim, and we are not sure what might happen. But we must stick it out. God has plans to make us stronger and brighter. All we have to do is breaking out of our daze and watch as God flips the switch on.
Charity Yost, 17, Oconee County Christian Academy, Seneca, SC
You can use anything to teach me about
You, God. Absolutely anything. I just have to be
open to Your lessons, and I will find them everywhere.