By GUEST WRITERS
I was wondering if you would be able to share about the place school should have in the life of a set apart girl. Since I have been seeking to know God better, I have been struggling more with my schoolwork – it seems to have little value and purpose, and it sometimes feels like a waste of time. What should I do?
Answered by: Rachel B. | OH, USA
I’d like to challenge you to offer your schoolwork back to the Lord as an act of worship. Since God is the Creator of all things, as you study you can also get to know God better. (See Romans 1:20.) In mathematics, God’s amazing order and precision can be seen; in science His tremendous care for His creation. In English, you can put into practice what you are learning to more effectively communicate the Gospel or share your testimony.
Since school is a requirement in our country until age 18, I’d also like to challenge you to see it as preparation for whatever God has for you in the next seasons of life. I recently spoke with a friend who lives in a very spiritually dark part of the world. She shared that it was very hard to dedicate her time to language study when she knew that she could easily request a translator and begin her medical work. It became a joy when she realized that learning the language was part of her calling and every bit as important as serving in the clinic. It was what the Lord had placed before her. It was an act of obedience, a sacrifice of her will — surrender. “Now,” she said, “I’m so thankful that I didn’t step forward and request a translator because I am able to serve so much more effectively than if I had not gone through the time and effort required for language study.” Had she bypassed the study time she also would have forgone the blessing that resulted from her obedience.
Ask God to reveal himself through your studies and they will become a joy for you as well.
answered by: Mandy saeler | CO, USA
I can totally relate to what you’ve expressed! As I began growing in my relationship with the Lord as a teenager, suddenly, my daily studies felt vain and I longed for deeper purpose in what I was doing! I hope that what I share with you here can help you see what I failed to realize in the midst of my own schooling.
What God has given your hands to do is His gift to you in this moment, as well as His unique training for the future that He has for you — believe it or not! I know that when you are in the midst of something you aren’t enjoying (or when you would rather be doing something else) it can be hard to see this. But ask Him to help you recognize what is before you as His gift to you and for the grace to embrace it as such. This very assignment at your fingertips is the precise place where you may learn more of Him, abide in His presence, look to Him for wisdom, and more!
To be honest with you — life — even beyond the walls of your school, is full of the mundane and seemingly “unspiritual.” I know that doesn’t sound very encouraging, but it actually can be when we know what to do with these things. And it’s what you can learn to do now in the midst of your “mundane!” Invite Jesus into the center of it. Walk it with your Lord. Seek His aid in all that you do. Share in the small moments of life with Him. As you daily live with a yielded heart, aware of His presence with you, you will discover joy in the midst of the mundane, because in His presence is fullness of joy! (See Psalm 16:11.)
His work upon the Cross affords you the opportunity to live in His presence and His presence to live in you — whether running laps at track practice or hashing through a heap of algebra equations. Through His amazing love and His power alive in you, the sterile halls of your high school can become your very own “Eden” — the place where you walk in harmony and fellowship with your God.
