College Courage

EAGER EXPECTATION

written by Sarah Jenkins

In having the platform of speaking to you as a college student, I feel the obligation to be woefully blunt. In doing so, I’d like simply to say that 2020 has been freaking hard.

A year that held so much promise for me was suddenly thrown off course as COVID-19 made its way through the United States. I felt like I was at my peak - interning at the Florida State Capitol finally getting to make political change, running a half marathon faster than I ever thought possible and being beckoned into a beautiful new decade of life - I simply would have never guessed what could have happened next.

In March of 2020, I returned to my home in Jupiter, Florida and, unbeknownst to me at the time, would stay there until January 2021. I would watch my friends all return to school as I sat at home lamenting what I perceived to be the right choice and I would wonder if it really WAS the right choice every day. I would wonder why I felt so lonely and why the world looked so bleak. I would pray every day for a brighter tomorrow.

In those prayers, God brought me back to the verse he spoke over me at the beginning of 2020, prior to the realms of masks, hand sanitizer and social distancing. On January 1, 2020, God reminded me of the story of Esther and the words said to her by Mordecai when the Jewish people were in peril, “Who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14 NIV).

When He first brought me to that verse, I saw each “for such a time as this” moment in vibrant technicolor. I saw it the moment I crossed the 13.1 mile finish line and each time I slipped my heels on after my walk to the Capitol. These events firmly validated His plan for my year and just how beautiful it was.

As COVID-19 gripped the world though, those moments lost their light. I suddenly felt alone, anxious and always on edge. I wondered how God could take a year of such promise and turn it to hardship and constant worry. What He proved to me though, is that He’s always got something up His sleeve. Each time I would think my “for such a time as this” year was disqualified, He would bring about something so innovative and exciting that, in the same way as before, I could have never guessed what would happen next. He brought me back to my passion for artistic creation and using my gift to impact others. He gave me leadership positions far greater than anything I could have imagined for myself, especially when I was geographically distant from my university.

He proved that my trust in Him is all that is required for miracles to happen, and He reminded me that each moment of every day is meant to be treated as a divine appointment - one for such a time as THIS.

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