download

As I sit here on my bed not having to worry about undergraduate homework, projects, or tests ever again, I am struggling with this final blog post. It’s not that I’ve reached the epitome of senioritis and can’t even get words typed out, but, through reflection, I’ve realized that my college experience was not so much sharply defined by the quantitative or tangible, but softly painted by “things not seen”.

2 Corinthians 4:18 says, “Because we do not regard the things which are seen but the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” Well, now I am attempting to regard four years’ worth of “things not seen” and will try to verbalize them for your reading pleasure.

There are no amount of words that can summarize the aggregate of these past four years, but there are certainly some crucial points that turned me from a freshman who didn’t even know if she wanted to be a Christian, to a college graduate with a heart for God.  The points are the following:

  1. Let Him
  2. Offer yourself
  3. Value your portion
  4. Enjoy Christ

Let Him

He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:30)

Looking back on these four years, I’m not so concerned with how much or little the Lord moved in me. I am simply amazed that He moved in me at all. I’ve come to realize that our God is a moving God. He wants to move in us and through us, but He won’t do so unless we let Him. Thus, we must take the opportunity to let Him. We are given many opportunities in life to either let the Lord in, or shut Him out. One such opportunity is testing week! Since they’re inevitable anyways, why not let the Lord into your studies and tests?  One prayer I often prayed was, “Lord, thank you that I can do all things in Christ. Please be with me as I study and as I test.” By letting the Lord into my daily life, I was pressed to have more conversations with Him, and He was given a way to gain more ground in me.

Offer Yourself

I exhort you therefore, brothers, through the compassions of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service. (Rom. 12:1)

In Romans, Paul exhorts the people to present their bodies a living sacrifice, which is their reasonable service. When I first heard this verse, I was struck by the words “reasonable service”. After musing upon these two words, I concluded with the thought, “Wow. Presenting my body is a service to the Lord. And wow, This is certainly reasonable!” The beauty of Romans 12:1 is that it isn’t a law telling you how many times you need to present yourself to Christ or His Body. It simply says to do it. This past year I found myself consistently presenting my body every Friday night at a home group. This turned out to be such a blessing. Every time I went, I was watered and cherished to an extent that my living sacrifice seemed more like a blessed enjoyment. No matter how many or few times I presented my body, God honored my living sacrifice and was able to do more than I could ask or think.

Value Your Portion

But much rather the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. (1 Cor. 12:22)

One quote that highly impacted my Christian life was, “You are just a member. No more and no less.” What does this mean? It means that to God, the quiet person who only shows up to meetings once a week is as much a member as the charismatic, eloquent person who shows up to all the church meetings. God deems all of His members necessary, so why don’t we? No matter how big or small you think your portion is, bring it to the Body and share it. One big hurdle for me in my Christian life was to stop comparing myself to others and just function. The bible says that we are all valuable to the Body, and necessary to God, for He has placed us in His Body, even as He willed (1 Cor. 12:18)

Enjoy Christ

 But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall by no means thirst forever… (John 4:14)

As vessels of mercy, we are meant to be filled with Christ. Throughout the text of the Bible, Christ depicts Himself as our bread of life, our living water, and our enjoyment. God created man as a vessel so that He can fill us with Himself! How wonderful is this? We are not meant to be ruled by a goal GPA, nor meant to chase after an idealized American dream. We are meant to enjoy and be filled with the definite Christ who says that He is our satisfaction. If you haven’t experienced enjoying Christ yet, that’s ok! You can simply pray, “Lord, become enjoyable to me.”

L.O.V.E and Moving On

To be honest, I’m only here by the Lord’s mercy and by others’ prayers. However, as I’ve Let Him, Offered myself, Valued my portion, and Enjoyed Christ, I’ve come to love the Lord more. Although I definitely struggled these past four years, I also built an eternal memorial with God. Through all my ups and downs, Christ was able to make His home in my heart, and I fell in love with an intimate God with an eternal purpose. Every experience I went through in college, whether good or bad, was exactly what I needed for the Lord to move in me. These experiences may not have been according to my plan, but they ultimately softened my heart and led me to love the Lord and His will. I don’t know what the future will hold, but I know that my college experiences carry an eternal value and will affect the rest of my life. Although it’s time for me to move on from my undergrad days, I will never move on from God. I am His, and He is mine.

Because out from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen (Romans 11:36)

Sarah Chen
Latest posts by Sarah Chen (see all)