Monday 25 January 2016

Student of Faith

I’m currently pursuing integrated PhD from University of Hyderabad, which is one of the premier institutions in the country specifically with respect to research in diverse fields. Do I want to do research? Duh!! Obviously. Am I Having fun? Well, I guess...

Last Sunday, this is what I understood!!!.. A student commonly faces 3 emotions while in the student period of his life. What are these????
1.      Loneliness
2.      Hopelessness
3.      Worthlessness or valuelessness

After listening to the speaker, I had a lot to process. Do I feel all these sometimes (either just one or all three together)??? I have to admit, when I was listening to the speaker at church, I was like, wow! I do feel these sometimes. As a student with so many pressures in life and ambitions and goals, we tend to feel these because we are constantly in dire need to satisfy the society and yourself at the same time. Also, we would want to be part of the crowd at all times and achieve all that we hoped for. As believers can we have it all????? Think it over????

Let me answer it this way... can a slave be better than the master? Can we be  better than our own teachers? No! If the Lord of all creation was thrown around and despised, we needn’t expect everything to go all rosy for us. We might just face more than our unbeliever friends. And it is worth it all. Because we have the saving grace. We have been set apart.

Anyway, getting back to the 3 strong student emotions, the speaker specially mentioned about Elijah (1 Kings 19). He faced all these three emotions at the same time. He expected to take his last breath the very next day, but what did the angel say to him?? The angel encouraged him by saying thus (verse 7) “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you”. He continued his journey right up till he was taken up to heaven. He never saw death!!! Amazing right! That’s what faith does...

I was wondering of a few others who would have felt the same.(please go ahead and read about how David was constantly feeling lonely and how he continued to reassure himself (psalm23:1”The LORD is my shepherd” and he goes on to say in Psalm121:2 “My help comes from the LORD”), how Job kept aside all the comments he kept hearing from his friends and even his wife and yet he goes on to say (Job 42:2-“ I know that you can do all things..”), how Jeremiah, Nehemiah, Abraham and countless other walked alone in all loneliness.) These brave men of the Bible were always at the cliff, just a few inches away from the pit of hopelessness and the feeling of valuelessness. But did they ever fall? NO!!!

Why be called a believer if you don’t have faith and can’t believe? It’s the hard truth, but know, that in all your struggles, whatever they might be, the LORD has a plan greater and far far better for you than you can imagine (Jeremiah 29:11-“For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”) What more do you want than this?????

Tomorrow, if you feel even a hint of loneliness, hopelessness or worthlessness, kick it off and say “LORD, if you are there with me and for me, how can I be alone and who can be against me????


Think it over and do it. Be a student of faith!

2 comments:

  1. good job Aradhana,it is inspirational.May god help us to be as good students in faith.

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  2. good job Aradhana,it is inspirational.May god help us to be as good students in faith.

    ReplyDelete