Frantic and feverish, hopeful and downcast, I was entirely overwhelmed last summer because I had no idea where to go for college. I had applied for the luxurious High Point University and got an opulent scholarship to assist my family with the cost, and whilst I waited for an even grander full-ride scholarship from them, I was met with a financial package on June 13th telling me that I had 19K left to pay.

Staggered and disappointed, I emailed my advisor and asked him if I won the full-ride, to which he informed me that the winners received their congratulatory email months ago. I felt my heart sink- it was as if an arrow had mercilessly pierced it. I was downcast; quixotically I had kept High Point University in my heart as a dream school without considering that it may not be God’s will. 

High Point was affiliated with the Methodist Church and had garnered a notable reputation for providing 99% of their students with jobs upon graduation. I, with the hopes to be a book author, realized how foolish it would be for me to set my eyes solely on that with no contingency plan for a stable career-and so I thought that High Point was the best option for me to have the best opportunities in life. 

I had believed that it was God’s will, and much like I did almost everything else in high school, I believed that just because I wanted it, it must have meant that God wanted it to. I was a fool, for I had mistaken God’s silence for agreement, and I had mistaken my deafness for God’s silence. I had believed that God wanted me to go to High Point just because I didn’t feel like He was saying anything else.

This is one of my favorite things about God: His mystery. He is quite simple, more simple and more personal than I ever imagined before my closeness with Him, however, God is still wondrously mysterious-I can never predict His ways. There is a fun enchantment that comes with not knowing what God has in store, and it is an ineffable consolation to know that He has good plans for you. With that being said, it is all to illustrate the wonder of God and the joy in waiting on Him. I learned to wait on the Lord that summer.

I was expeditious to find a different university to attend because the cost of High Point was inordinately high, therefore I went back to the acceptance letters of the three other schools that I applied to. 

Here were my cards: UNCG, which was right up the street from me; UNCC, which was an hour and a half away; and UNCW, which was light years away from me but conveniently close to the beach. Therefore, with my options, I decided that UNCG was too close to home, UNCW was aesthetic and modish-the beach being nearby was enchanting nevertheless I couldn’t bear being 3 hours away from family with no car. 

So that left me with UNCC. I was apprehensive to go because I didn’t know what to expect. I knew that many of my friends were going there, but I didn’t know if I was going to be near them or if we would be close. But do you see how God is good? I had no idea what God was cooking and yet God made my experience so much better at Charlotte than I can describe.

So then, after the acceptance came the housing. This, dear reader, was my greatest terror and chief worry. How in the world was I going to get housing when everybody that applied to UNCC at my high school got rejected? How in the world was I going to make it in their housing system? I was dubious about applying, but thanks to my persistent and loving father, I applied anyway and my parents were even gracious enough to pay the $75 application fee as well. 

Throughout it all, my parents were forbearing and understanding, and with God’s grace, they guided me along the way. I feel gratitude at the recollection of my parent’s love, and this was another blessing to cherish God for. And, as God would have it, I got housing AND an amazing roommate (with whom I happen to share a birthday with)! 

I realized something grand about God that I hadn’t understood at all in high school: God genuinely wants to do good things for me. I felt that I was so mentally and spiritually immature in high school. I subconsciously believed that God did not want me to have good things because every time I wanted something, God either delayed it or denied it. But, upon being in college for several months now, I have understood that God had always planned things out for my good. 

I have learned that God genuinely enjoys blessing me, and that God has always wanted good things for me and that is why He has instructed me to wait. Even now, I am in a bit of wonder at what God is going to do next in my life concerning housing for next semester, but seeing that God literally provided housing for me in July, I know that God will provide housing for me now, (and roommates too). 

In high school, waiting on God was wearisome and infuriating, but now, with all of my spare time in college, I have started to enjoy waiting on God. I find it to be a bit of curious fun: God makes me feel inquisitive. I can never fully comprehend how He writes a story, or how He creates the scenes of life, but it fascinates me to know that God will provide again, and I am sincerely curious as to how He will do it this time. 

Waiting on God has become fun and interesting. It is like following a butterfly through a labyrinth: I don’t necessarily know where I am going, but I know it will be worth it. The journey is fun, the 40 years in the wilderness really could have been 7 days if the Israelites just learned to have fun waiting on God. Truly, waiting on God and seeing what He was thinking all along has got to be one of the most enjoyable experiences about walking with God. I love that I can never figure out His next move. 

When I was going through the process of going to a different college, I would always randomly open up my Bible and I would see Psalm 32:8 and Psalm 27:14, which is “Wait on the Lord, be of good courage and He shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord.” So, from what I have learned about God in college, I say to wait on the Lord. Have fun waiting on God, find joy in the adventure, find amusement in the unknowing. Genuinely enjoy being in His presence and adore Him for all He has done and all the hope that He has given, and wait on the Lord.