After spending 12 days at camp (which is the longest amount of time that I’ve been away from home), I realized something: College is going to stretch me.
What will I do when I’m forced to be with people constantly? What will happen when I’m only able to see my family once a month for very short periods of time? What will be my fate as an introverted freshman who’s terrified of making new friends? What if I can’t “do” college?
Just Nerves?
After one week at the two-week camp that I attended earlier this summer, I was ready to go home. I wanted to see my family. I wanted to not see anyone outside my family. I wanted to sleep in my own bed, make my own food, and use my own shower.
I was tired of constantly being around people (many of whom were loud and obnoxious). I was tired of not getting enough sleep (and having to wear a smile throughout the day regardless of how little sleep I had gotten the night before). I was tired of having a strict schedule (which included very little alone time).
Sure, maybe I’m being melodramatic about the whole college thing. Or maybe all of my fears are legitimate. I simply won’t know what’s true and what’s real until I arrive on campus. For now, I simply have to wait—in my bed of dread, my pit of anxiety, and my sea of nervousness.
I know that the worry I experience is normal. But I’m also learning that it can be sinful if I let it control my life—which happens when I dwell on it instead of dwelling on the Truth.
He Knows
And He said to His disciples, “For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span? If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith! And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:22-32 NASB1995)
It’s normal to be nervous about the unknown. But we can choose to dwell on our worries or dwell on the Truth. When we fail to trust God and seek His kingdom, we miss out on so many wonderful things because we’re trapped in fear. God knows—and supplies—exactly what we need, so we don’t need to hold on to fear.
Friends, when we’re being stretched, let’s stretch toward the Savior.
Tizzie's Tidbits of Truth 