A Purposeful God

Well, it has been way too long since I have updated. As most of you know I have begun my freshman year at Gardner-Webb University and it has definetly been a roller coaster ride the past few weeks. I am overcome by the grace and mercy of God at every corner and at every turn. As I look around, God's hand is evident in every aspect, and I feel so blessed that He has lead me to this place. I couldn't have asked for anything more.


One thing that has really struck me the most as I come into my first month here at school is an acute realization in the purposefulness and Sovereignty of God. From 7th. grade through my senior year, I was taught many lessons, big ideas, the "so what" answers to everything, and though I heard them, learned them, and was awed by them, those lessons were not necessarily a real part of my life. Now, I can honestly say that the past few weeks have been the most intense experience of those lessons being fleshed out in the day to day. Day by day, I am able to draw upon those lessons that I learned, helping me stay focused in my walk with God. One of the main things that I am thankful for is the idea that was over every aspect of my education...that God is a purposeful God, He is Sovereign, He sits on the throne, He rules in the affairs of men and nations, He is Lord over ALL! Over these past weeks, I have found myself connecting ideas and drawing from my six years in school, realizing that those years have truly ruined me, transformed me, and shaken my world forever. I can no longer look at history without searching for God's purpose. I can no longer look at my life and not see His hand working, molding, and shaping me with His mercy, grace, and lovingkindness. At school we were expected to think, to take the ideas that were given us and to measure, decipher, and wrestle them into our belief system. We toiled long hours over thesis papers and projects, shedding blood, sweat, and tears...yet at that moment, though we could not see the great work that was being done in our lives, through accomplishing those tasks, through reaching those standards, through wrestling those ideas, we were becoming the people that God has created us to be. As youth, we were thought of as strange by our peers and others, we were thought of as different, and what I have realized is that we were different, very different, because we had an intense realization of God's Hand across time. In being different, we are called to draw others to be distinctive, to be peculiar, to look beyond life's present circumstances to realize the greater purpose of life, it is our destiny, it is our calling. We are creatures, created to worship and glorify our Creator. Whether we do this in our home, in our community, or at larger scale out in the world, the praising of His Name is our sole purpose and calling. Through the trials and tribulations, through the joyful celebrations, whatever the circumstances, may we glorify the Lord above all.


Take joy, take faith, and take hope, He is a purposeful God.