For the month of March, I decided to allow my Instagram followers to decide what topics I will be discussing on this platform. I received numerous responses and I plan to pick four of those responses as a topic for my next four blog posts. I plan to be as informal as possible and just share with you guys what I have learned. The question I will be responding to in this blog post is “How to be consistent with God and school at the same time.” The title for this post is significant because I want to allow us to see that consistency with God is as simple as just walking with God. Walking with God allows us to enjoy a fellowship with God while we thrive in other aspects of our lives.
I hear a lot of people say that God comes first in their lives. While I can understand the idea behind the statement, I want to say that this statement is quite problematic. Our relationship with God is more than a checklist where we put the Lord at the top and check Him off as needed. For those of us who uses checklists, we know that because something is at the top of the list does not mean that we will get to it first. A lot of times we can choose the things that are not the top priority because they are easier to fulfill and the top of the list remains undone. I want us to replace the idea of “God first” with “God at the center.” Jesus does not just come first in our lives but He is at the center of our lives. Because we understand that Jesus is at the center of our lives, we know that everything He calls us to do is an act of worship unto Him. Consistency in our Christian walk while balancing other responsibilities requires that we include the Lord in everything we do. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to “Pray without ceasing.” When we put God at the center of our lives, we include Him when we are doing our homework, while we complete an important project on our jobs and while we spend time with our family and friends. We do not always have to go into the secret place and get on our knees before we can pray to God but we constantly need to keep talking to God as we go about our days.
Another thing we need to do is to examine our priorities. Although we do not have a list that we check off, we do need to make spending time in the secret place a priority in our lives. Matthew 6:33 says “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” I have found this to be the case in my life because when I started taking my relationship with God seriously, I started to prosper in other aspects of my life. As a college student, I was actively involved in multiple organizations, I had an on campus job and I maintained above a 3.9 GPA while maintaining a good relationship with God. The key to balancing every other responsibility is to make sure that your main priority is taken care of and your main priority is your relationship with God. I made it my goal to choose a consistent time for me to seek the face of God. There were times when I was busy to spend a sufficient amount of time with God in the morning so I made sure I spent time in the secret place at night after my activities. However, make sure you spend time in the secret place everyday! Get an accountability partner if you need have troubles with understanding the Word. Last year spending time with God in the evenings proved to be best but there are some times when God would wake me early in the morning to fellowship with Him and I obeyed. Although you may have scheduled a time to spend in the secret place, be open for God to switch it up.When God is at the center of your activities, you will never miss out on time with Him.
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I also want to encourage you to be spontaneous when you spend time with God. A lot of times we do not delight in spending time in the secret place because we consider it to be boring. However, when you do not have to do the exact same thing every time you go into the secret place. Occasionally, I have date nights with God where I would either go out to eat or open up a new bottle of sparkling apple cider with my wine glass. Sometimes I may choose to watch an online sermon or read a Christian book. Honestly the possibilities are endless when it comes to God. You do not have to follow the same routine everyday but switch it up from time to time and you will always be excited to spend time with God.
In addition to making sure God is your main priority, it is important to examine your other priorities. I knew that my academics came second so I always made sure that was taken care of after I spent time in the secret place. Going to class was important and setting aside time to complete my homework assignment was important. Time management is key! After my academics, I focused on my job. Thankfully my job was stress free so my friends had a chance to come visit me at work. I used those times to make memories with my friends while I completed other duties for my job. Make sure your priorities as a college student are in place because we find out that it is impossible for us to complete important tasks when they are not. Your organizations involvement should not come before your academics. A good part about involving the Lord in our daily tasks is that He allows us to see when our priorities are not in alignment to His will. Ask God what He wants you to do. The Lord had me take a break when some of my organizations became too overwhelming. The Lord told me to sit in my room to spend time with Him when I wanted to go to my friend’s room to discuss things that were not profitable. There were a time when I was completing a homework assignment and the Lord reminded me that I have not spent time with Him yet on that day so I should do so before doing my homework. I obeyed that instruction I realized that I will always stay up to complete my homework as needed but it was more difficult for me to spend time with God when I was tired because I would fall asleep. When your priorities are in order, everything else will fall into place.
1 Corinthians 10:31 says “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” It is also important to remember that our academics is a ministry. Ministry is simply what God has entrusted you to tend to at the present moment. It is impossible for God to trust you with something bigger if you cannot take care of what He has currently placed in your hands. Do not use your relationship with God as an excuse to be lazy. God wants you to be diligent in your academics. Your academics is supposed to bring glory to God. The all wise God lives on the inside of you and it is a testament of His grace when you excel academically. A lot of people ask me how I am able to maintain a high GPA and in that moment, I have the chance to tell them about Jesus. I understand that I am nothing without Him so I want to use this ministry of academics to bring others to Christ. There are people who can come to Christ through your academic testimony so be diligent in it. There is no complicated solution to excelling academically. I always tell others to make it a goal to get an A in the class at the beginning of the semester and make it a goal to get an A in every assignment. Do your best on every assignment. If an extra credit is assignment, make sure you take the opportunity even if you may not need it at that time. Write down your test and due dates in your calendar and make sure you are preparing for it everyday. You may not always get an A on every assignment but if you do your best on every assignment then know that you are making God proud. Getting a 4.0 GPA was not my goal as a college student, I simply wanted to be diligent in my ministry in the classroom. When my GPA dropped from a 4.0 to a 3.96, I was not bothered because I know that I still made God proud.
Make it a discipline to spend time with God daily and follow His leading when it comes to your academics. The Holy Spirit wakes me up several times when I need to study for an upcoming tests. Understand that although you may not always desire to spend time with God or to do well academically, you need to March. Marching takes discipline and sometimes your tasks will begin as a discipline before it becomes a desire. It is possible to be consistent in your relationship with God while balancing your other responsibilities when you rely on God. 3 John 2:2 says “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”It is important to remember that God wants you to prosper both spiritually and academically. I want us to just focus on marching with God this week and beyond.