Light Through Peace, D.C.

As a young believer who was raised in a Christian home, I can wholeheartedly say that the Lord Jesus has been real and dear to me. I have experienced God living in me (1 John 4:15) and guiding me through life's monumental decisions. I would like to share one that has never left me. It all started the summer before my senior year in high school. At that time in my life God seemed to be, for the most part, something or someone far away. Participating in athletics, academics, and various social activities took most of my time then. I didn't really consider much about the Lord -not until it came time to start considering about what to do after graduation. I was definite about going to college, but that's about as far as I had thought up until then.

I knew that my decision on where to go and what to study would directly affect how my future would develop. You can say that it scared me a little; actually, it scared me a whole lot. What does a seventeen year old kid do in that situation? Who to ask? Parents, friends, God? Being a Christian and all, I decided to give God a try. What could I lose? So all I did was pray to the Lord and ask Him to guide me in what to do with my future. Although it was a simple prayer, it was very genuine. You don't really know how genuine you can be until you're in a desperate situation.

To make a long story short, it came down to the last day before acceptance letters were due for college admissions. I had three choices. I actually ranked them based upon various factors. That night, for some reason, I had an uneasy feeling within about two of the colleges and I had a definite sense of peace about the other school (Romans 8:6). That school was at the bottom of my list. Although it was not my first choice, it was close to home and there was a Christian college work there. It was a club composed of Christian students from other local churches who met on/off campus to enjoy Christ. Some of the students also liked to live together to pursue both a degree and the Lord in an environment set apart from the world (2 Timothy 2:22).

I decided to pray one more time before deciding. The peaceful feeling that I had was too overwhelming. I couldn't run away from the light. That night I decided to follow the inward feeling I had and so I mailed the acceptance letter the next day. That night I was filled with peace and rest. I thanked the Lord for being so real to me in answering my prayer. Once I started school the next fall, I knew that I had made the right decision. My Lord had led me.