It was 2006, and I began my post-high school track at the University of Miami. Early in my academic career, I strongly desired to excel. I had a rocky start to my first semester compared to the standards I had come to expect in high school. I was accustomed to achieving straight A’s. Going in, I assumed I could easily handle a six-class course load and stacked those classes to all be on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with only the sixth class being Wednesdays. The sixth course was a post-graduation preparation class that would prepare us for either law school or an MBA program. What could be better than a four-day weekend every week? 

I assumed it would be an excellent plan as it would enable me to continue participating in competitive PC gaming while providing additional free time to focus on studying. However, I needed to allot my time to better prioritize school work and study instead of structuring my time to make room for the games that interested me. Ultimately, this strategy resulted in a mix of A’s and B’s with a C+ in a Communications course I underestimated. These results fell short of my expectations but taught me a humbling lesson. I was confident I could redeem myself in the Spring of 2006 and made adjustments to make that a reality. 

Adjustments were needed!

It was clear that I would only turn things around if I studied more diligently and put in more effort starting the next semester. I decided to do five classes instead of six and begin a paid internship with OfficeMax, which an old friend connected me with. I felt fortunate as this was not the kind of opportunity a first-year student would often get. I also made the crucial adjustment to spread those five classes through Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. One upside of the internship was that I would allocate less free time to playing PC games, but there were a few downsides I did not foresee. The schedule would give little room for error. I was confident I could handle it at the time despite suspecting I might exert myself too much. I thought, “How hard would it be to put games on the back burner and pay more attention if need be?”

I hit the ground running that next semester and saw myself excel in all I was doing. The perfectionist inside of me was delighted with my performance. Within that first month or two of the semester, I got straight A’s and worked diligently to prove myself in my internship. I even made some time to play those coveted PC games and give lessons for money to augment my income. Some upper-level classmates and co-workers I occasionally encountered recognized my hard work through their affirmation and encouragement. I also noticed one of the young ladies in a class appeared enthusiastic about getting to know me. In my eyes, I was on top of the world in practically every area that seemed to matter.

I felt invincible, and my faith was the only aspect of my life I had allowed to become secondary. I did not slip away to the extent where I would call myself a prodigal or rebel, but I was not seeking God above the parameters for success the world offered. All these things I pursued were good. The mistake was not ensuring God was my top priority (Matthew 6:33). I was not attending Church or any Bible studies (Hebrews 10:25), although I still made it a point to talk to people about God on campus (Matthew 28:18-20). I also did so in the computer games I used to play. But the reality was apart from that, and perhaps some prayer time, my faith was not where it should be.

God corrects those He loves.

After those first couple of months or so, I was highly stressed out. It was a great time to quit the PC games, consider dropping one class, or even let go of the internship to salvage my work-life balance and mental health. Given my competitive nature, I did not find these solutions reasonable. I told myself I would power through anything and the stressors would subside in time (Proverbs 16:18). It got to a point where I did not sleep enough, and I became severely burnt out from over-extending myself. I did not recognize my limitations and remove something from my schedule. Instead, not long after, I put myself in a position where I needed to drop the entire load immediately. That is what I did, and not too long later, I realized I found myself immersed in a manic episode. I even had to be hospitalized, and my recovery was no walk in the park, to say the absolute least. 

Instead of having the humility and self-control to retire the PC games and sleep better, I had to let go of everything I was working for. I was not angry at God but was perplexed why He would allow me to suffer such a severe setback. I would face similar consequences for my mistakes again further down the road. My excessive ambition, competitive nature, and perfectionism led me to experience similar events thrice more during the following decade. It was challenging to realize that God gave me a loving and merciful detour because I was overly focused on what I had lost (Hebrews 12:11).

To this day, I can only speculate what God’s complete plan entails concerning these events. First and foremost, it made me realize that I should invest in eternity over the fleeting accomplishments and accolades this world offers (Ephesians 5:15-17). It also taught me I could not force or accomplish anything outside Him, allowing and empowering it. None of us can do anything of eternal value outside of Jesus Christ helping us to do so (John 15:4-8).

Instead of becoming a lawyer or climbing the ranks of a corporate ladder, God turned my focus back to Him. I discovered the value of being in His will, learned that God is to be loved and feared, and even found great satisfaction in serving Him through writing, among other pursuits (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). God even blessed me with more time to spend with my mom and dad, who helped me in my darkest days and never gave up on my recovery despite how bleak things were.

I may not know every reason why God ordained what happened, but I could not be more thankful that it did. My relationship with Him is stronger than ever. I placed my career aspirations on indefinite hold due to the circumstances of what occurred, but I am all the more blessed for having grown closer to Him in that season. I will celebrate eight years since my last hospitalization in August of this year, and He has remained faithful to me. The trial was severe, but God never abandoned me or let me down in any way (James 1:2-4; Deuteronomy 31:6; Hebrews 13:5-6).

It can be quite painful or even excruciating at the moment, but God corrects those He loves (Hebrews 12:6-7). All the lessons God teaches you the hard way have their purpose (Romans 8:28). One of the best ways to approach this is to learn from the experience and mistakes of others. Exercising our humility and integrating valuable lessons into our lives is crucial. While this may not always be a luxury available to us, it should always be on our radar to consider the advice of the people that love us. It rings even more true when they have our best interests at heart and are qualified to offer the advice they give regarding the subject matter.

Final thoughts

Instead of finding your identity in your career, relationships, or other gauges of success, I suggest discovering it in God first (2 Corinthians 5:17). We can enjoy these avenues of human achievement in their time as God opens the door. But they should never be our most significant focus. If you find your identity in Jesus Christ, it cannot be taken away, stolen, or otherwise lost. Nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:35-39)! Take comfort in His presence today. We can find joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment in Him (Psalm 16:11). Everything He blesses us with in this life is the icing on the cake. The real blessing is having the chance to serve Him and spend eternity with God in Heaven. We should thank Him for everything from the little material blessings (i.e., a pen and paper) to the largest of spiritual ones (i.e., knowing Jesus Christ as Savior) and everything in between. May God empower us all to live for His glory without regrets and appreciate all those blessings we are given rather than focusing on what we may lack (1 Chronicles 16:29-30).

The first that comes to mind is probably the most obvious—simply redirecting our efforts with intentionality on matters and taking inventory. What is it that we could re-prioritize? Is there something that needs to be put on the back burner because there are more vital things to spend our time doing? These are the kinds of questions that should lead us back on the right track. If we don’t take some time, we may allow these outliers to become more central parts of our lives. What we barely spent any time doing before may encompass more and more of our attention over time. As our hobbies become habits, they come dangerously close to potentially destructive and addictive patterns of behavior. Such practices can cause seemingly harmless activities to detract from our relationship with Jesus Christ. Ideally, we catch ourselves before this stage of entanglement and redirect our efforts accordingly. Prayerfully seeking what God would have us shift our attention to would be a good start. It demonstrates that you have a desire and a willingness to make adjustments despite your current lifestyle choices. 

The second way that could be of practical use in this situation is incorporating Jesus Christ, evangelism, or some aspect of redeeming value into your hobby, leisure activity, or habit. For example, you might have an affinity for something such as traveling. I understand that everyone needs a way to cope with life’s stressors, and you may deserve a vacation by all means. However, if you feel convicted about not fulfilling the Great Commission in your life, perhaps you want to incorporate some of God’s vision for you into your next vacation. You don’t have to visit a remote village in the middle of nowhere to do this. Just about any holiday can become an evangelical journey if you desire to make it one. 

Even if you’re not ready to confront people face-to-face with the Gospel, you can hand out Gospel tracts or plant them in familiar places where people might stumble upon them. I’ve personally had the privilege of unexpected divine appointments in various places. It could be the person sitting next to you in flight, a waiter at a restaurant, or a random encounter in a taxi. There are endless opportunities to share the Word of God. They are frequently more receptive than you might think. I will not dive deep into evangelism strategies here in this article, especially since everyone has their unique approach to these situations. Still, I will say one thing: It’s often helpful to convict someone of their need for a Savior so their hearts will be receptive to the Gospel. Many assume they’re generally good people if they don’t understand our need for Jesus Christ and our fallen state as humans. Once they understand their sinfulness, they’ll be more likely to embrace the idea of needing Jesus Christ. If you stick to only head knowledge, they may not feel a conviction in their heart to make any significant change.

One recent, widespread time sink that many of us have been enveloped by is the state of politics in our country. There is a lot of division and widespread criticism coming from both sides of the aisle. I agree that there’s a place for discussing the views of those who hold power to legislate initiatives that impact my freedoms. However, I think we go overboard when our political activism outweighs our efforts to do God’s work. Instead of working on sowing seeds of division, we need to work on finding common ground. There are times where we need to find satisfaction in agreeing to disagree because we can’t win everyone over to our side. We all have different upbringings, educations, and political leanings, even amongst other believers. These factors will often shift our perspective in one direction over another because of our unique life experiences.

There is no need to emphasize Republican or Democratic principles over Biblical principles to guide our decision-making. Why look to the government for solutions when our rights are God-given? We should consider there is more value in winning souls for Jesus Christ than winning votes for our favorite candidate. I hope our country can heal from this because it’s clear that a kingdom divided within itself cannot stand. Find peace and comfort in God’s sovereignty. We know that whether we voted for President Biden or not, God allowed him to become president. At this point, it is our responsibility as Christians to pray for him, his cabinet, and everyone across both sides of the aisle in leadership to help steer our country in the right direction. Spreading hate, misinformation, slander, and so forth does not serve us well. It’s apparent to me that this applies to both Republicans and Democrats. Ultimately our destiny isn’t determined by those in power but rather by God Himself, who exalts and humbles people as He wills.

All of us will be better off if we consider these ideas. I realize not everyone can agree on politics, but those of us who love God and people have more meaningful ways to align peaceably with one another. Do you think those who have yet to come to saving faith are drawn closer to Jesus Christ when they see our passion for politics or Jesus Christ? Sometimes the most significant transformation comes from demonstrating our faith through obedience to God’s commands in our lives. The seemingly small actions compounding over the lifetime of a believer can prove more inspiring than a million sermons. 

Don’t forget that new brothers and sisters in the faith observe our actions and consider whether we’re walking the walk. I don’t know about you, but I have some work to do. I am sure we each have at least a few areas where we can stand to improve. Let’s all take inventory of our focus, time, and energy so we can direct them all to actions that bring God glory. It doesn’t have to be a life overhaul overnight. The small, incremental changes over a long time horizon can yield excellent fruit too. We need to prayerfully discover what works for us by following God’s lead and going from there. If we genuinely desire to honor, glorify, and acknowledge God, He will clarify how we should go about doing precisely that. There is no greater way to find long-term fulfillment than to fear God and obey His commandments. Everything else, by comparison, is vastly overrated. For instance, King Solomon tried to find satisfaction in all sorts of temporary distractions, but he rightfully concluded that they all led him to dead-end roads. Do not take my word for it, but instead contemplate what the Word of God says on the matter.

“13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all.

14 For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.”

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 (NKJV)

May we all heed this sobering advice and live praiseworthy lives accordingly in the sight of God and man.

Today’s video dives into James 1:19-27. You can find it at: SaviorandLord.com by clicking “Video Collection” or directly through the link in my bio. First, let’s consider some character traits that help us navigate life’s challenges. Whether you face a trial or desire to handle various social situations with finesse, I think this one has something for you. I pray that the insight blesses you today.  

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