The Vine and the Branches

I’ve been challenged a lot lately with the busyness of my schedule and trying to fit in the “time” to involve Jesus in it. 

I’ll catch myself thinking, “okay well I don’t have class at this time, I can do it then”, or “Maybe I’ll be just try for tomorrow”, or “I’ll reserve a certain day for it”. 

And I tell myself that thinking that way is fine only because my attention is being directed towards education, or things that actually need to get done or benefit me. But this kind of thinking is so wrong, and ultimately so detrimental to my relationship with Jesus. 

Being a college student comes with a lot of responsibilities, stress and numerous anxieties. But I’m crazy to think that I’ll ever be able to get through it without the help of my heavenly Father. I read an old blog post of mine recently and I came across a line that said, “This is the happiest and best version of myself that I’ve been in a long time”. I would be lying if I said I didn’t tear up reading that. I don’t think that my morals, beliefs or values have changed, but I do think their order of importance have shifted due to environment and a hectic schedule. It’s been a little over a year since I got home from Australia and there is not a day that goes by I don’t think about my time there, the people I shared my life with, and not wish that I was there right now. 

My schedule and day-to-day agenda in Australia was very busy as well. We woke up every single day around 5 a.m. to surf, then went straight to classes, then 3 hours of work duties, then homework, then some kind of night or group activity, then a littleeee bit of free time, and by 9 p.m. I’d honestly be knocked out cold. And when I look back and compare that schedule with the one I have right now, I notice a really big difference. I included God in every single thought, idea, notion, opinion, feeling and plan that crossed my mind then. I was constantly asking Him for guidance, reassurance, insight, understanding or clarification and I included Him in absolutely everything that I did. I saw everything as a learning opportunity; just another situation where I could see Jesus and His plan for me. My brain was flooding with thoughts of Jesus 24/7 and though there were several difficult moments, there were infinite amounts of astonishing experiences. 

For the past year I have been asking God to help me, to show Himself to me, to bring me closer to Him and to impress His thoughts into my mind, but I have stopped including Him in my everyday agenda. 

One way to see God so prevalently is to include Him in every busy, hectic and active moment you involve yourself in. The busier you are, the more chances and opportunities God has to show Himself to you and give you something. The busyness of my schedule should not impact how available I make myself to Jesus, it should enhance it. Looking back at my time in Australia I have SO many examples and experiences where God showed Himself to me, taught me something and gave me such knowledge about Him and this life He wants to live alongside us. The more questions, doubts, confusion, desires and aspirations we bring to God the more able He is to make Himself present to us. 

Last year in one of my DTS classes we were asked to close our eyes and ask God for a vision of what He wants for our life. And the vision He gave me is so perfectly and beautifully unique to me, and solely applicable to my life and my experiences. It’s a scenery of a pink, orange and blue sunset above a mountain range. There’s a path heading towards the mountains and at the beginning of the path is me standing there with a backpack looking at the scenery. Above the mountains is Jesus’s face, wearing a crown of flowers and motioning with His hand towards the sky and in my head I heard His voice so clearly, “Your life will always be an adventure with Me. Come and Follow Me”. I will never be able to perfectly describe what I saw in my head to someone else, but I have never and will never be able to forget that vision. It is the most inviting, enticing, appealing and captivating thing I have ever experienced. 

What I love about Jesus is how personal He is with each and every one of us. He knows exactly what our hearts desires are and gives them to us exactly the way we need it, at exactly the perfect moment. He exceeds our expectations and touches our hearts in a way only He would be able to. What works for me, what I want, need, feel, hear, see or am impacted by is different than what works for others. But He tends to each and every single one of our individual needs because God KNOWS the TRUE desires of our hearts. 

The times of my life where I am reacting and engaging with Jesus are the most amazing, memorable, influential and unforgettable moments of my life. Spending time with God is not a lame, time consuming, tedious, or inconvenient act. It is the most rewarding and beneficial thing you can do for yourself. 

College is crazy, life is crazy, but I promise we cannot do it without the prevalent presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him will bear many fruits, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5