Back to School 
Pause
For students, this season marks the end of summer and the beginning of a new year.
Every beginning has an ending. Time gets by so quickly that sometimes we can hardly keep up with the memories we are collecting along the way.
Endings sometimes come all too quickly. So there’s something to be said for taking every moment as something to be embraced and savored for as long as it lasts.
The God we serve, though, is not limited by time. The moments we spend in the presence of God, then, hold the possibility of timelessness.
Listen
Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!” And he was afraid, and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
Genesis 28:16–17
Think
Jacob woke with an awe that hit him deeply. “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!”
We think about God’s showing up in specific places such as church, or nature, or the graveside of a loved one, or in our very selves. But what about school? Does God show up during first period Latin class that begins at the break of dawn, or while the chalk dust is stirring during calculus, or even in the boring, long lunch line?
I think it’s fun and important to expect God to show up in all kinds of places, even language lab at the end of the day before it’s time to go home, or for a coffee, or in the library, or at your favorite extracurricular.
Yep, God is there in all of these places. So let’s not be nearly as surprised as Jacob.
Rich Clark
Pray
I’m going to look for you every day this school year, God. I expect I’ll see you around. Give me a heart that’s open to your mysteries so that I can see your work happening right before me. Amen.
Go
Go ahead and take that first step.
Is it risky? Of course.
That’s faith for you.
But remember,
Your faith is in God Almighty,
And God will not be moved.
You’re going to be just fine.
