It was finally here. I had made it, yet the fear of an insurmountable precipice was before me. I sat in my dorm room with only my laptop staring back at me. I realized that despite my childhood which lacked any and all discipline and skills in knowing how to study and do homework, I had somehow made it to my top pick university.
I mean, it didn’t bother me that I never graduated 8th grade, I graduated high school… with a 1.6 GPA. But so what. It didn’t bother me that my GPA in community college was so-so at best, I was student body president… that only a handful of staff and students knew about. I didn’t care, this opened up a world of opportunities, as well as favors, recommendations and grades which landed me here. But I realized in the dorm that day after my first class that I had absolutely no idea what I was doing or how to move forward. It was at that moment I sent up a silent prayer and heard a still, small voice whisper, “now I will teach you how to be a student.”
It was only by the grace of God I survived these four years at my university. But day by day, I asked God for new strength and He answered with a presence that felt like it was right there with me. Like an unseen person guiding my hands and pointing to things on the page. I slowly wrote notes and made tools to memorize material with a sense that while I was alone, I was not alone.
In these years it took to obtain my masters degree, I learned a dependence on God that had built in me a faith and trust in God and His Word that is not easily shaken. There were so many times I felt hopeless and helpless, yet when I brought it to God in prayer, it would always be resolved in ways that were nothing short of miraculous.
I was impressed when I read this story about king David when he was old and in battle in 2 Samuel 21. David meets Ishbibenob, a son of the giant. I infer this to be the son of Goliath whom David had killed in his youth. This strong young man was after revenge.
Vs 16 “ And Ishbibenob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David.”
David was not strong enough for what he was up against, yet a force intervened.
Vs 17 “But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel.”
The word “succour” is an interesting word. It means to help, but in a way that is very present. It’s not someone who sends you something from a distance, but someone who is in the battle with you.
This is interesting because there is a verse that describes Jesus in Hebrews 2 with this word:
Vs 18 “For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.”
Jesus is not distant. He is with us in the battle, in the trials, in the temptations. He isn’t far away in heaven, sometimes sending us a bit of mercy, but is a present help in trouble.
I don’t know about you, but I thank God He is with us. Jesus is called Immanuel, God with us. Even when we are abandoned by family, forsaken by friends, isolated by circumstances and even separated from loved ones by death, we are never, ever alone.
