Worship as your first defense

Hello! I hope this post will provide some encouragement for a new school year. Emphasis on NEW. And guess what, it's a new week too. A new day. I think that everyone can agree that this school year has already been so different from the last. For me and probably a lot of you, classes in person have been huge difference. You should've seen me last week trying to figure out the buses and almost face planting in front of 50 people, because I've never had to stand on a UGA bus before. I'm so excited that classes are back in person, but presenting in front of actual people for the first time in over a year terrifies me just a little. I spent all of yesterday doing assignments and realized that this year my classes are actually going to be harder than high school. I don't know if any other sophomores have had this realization, but it was a hard one for me last week when freshman year classes, for the most part, feel like a joke now.

Whatever your "new" is, I have good news for you. God is present in every season and in every change. John 16:33 says that Jesus has already overcome the world. The world! While this is easy for me to say over you, I understand that it can be hard to feel like God has overcome everything that you're currently stressed about. Maybe you're like me and have simply been focusing on what assignment is due for what class, which is something you should definitely do, BUT what if you choose today to put worship as your first defense. When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were put into the fire, they chose to worship God. In their faith, they were delivered. While this isn't a promise that God will give you an A on every exam this year, it is a promise that He is with you. I want to put worship on my front line, because I know and have seen that my God is good, and there's nothing else I would want to put my trust in.

This world has seen too much change to try to comprehend this year, and I'm sure that's the same for your individual lives too. My friends, it's never too late to put your trust in God. It's a new school year and a new day! Thank God for who He is and what He's given you, and know that He is with you! Put worship as your first defense today and see what happens.