Hi My Name's Alaina and I'm a Sexist.

Recently, I have realized how sexist I can be. Not towards the opposite sex, but my own. After an amazing worship set at the Link, Leanna got up to introduce the speaker for the night, and it was a young woman who is a High School youth pastor at a church in Long Beach. Automatically, I assumed the message was going to be terrible. Why? Women are just as capable as men to present an incredible message, yet I still pre-judge the lesson on the presence of certain appendages or lack there of. Her message ended up being incredible and exactly what I needed to hear. She addressed stress not only within a college setting, but life in general. 

The young woman gave three ways in which God will present himself in stressful situations. First, Sometimes God just wants us to be still and let him be God. She used the example of the Israelites right before God split the sea. They cursed God and cursed Moses for leading them through the desert only to Die. Then God was just wanting them to CHILL OUT and let him be God. He split the sea, and they crossed to safety. 

The second way God meets us in our anxiety-head moments is by letting us know sometimes we need to be still in the moment and trust that He is God. The speaker described an imaginary situation to portray this idea. Say you are in the desert, and there is no way whatsoever to get water. Minutes from death, you start to pray for God to provide water and all of a sudden you spot a water bottle out of nowhere. But you ask God, "Cant you jut put it in my body for me? I'm too tired to even open the bottle." and he's probably just thinking , "Reeeaaaallly? You're grown up, do it yourself." Similarly, we become so paralyzed by our stress so when God provides us an "out" we refuse to drink the water that is right in front of us. We need to be still in the moment, let God be God, and respond to Him when needed. He'll provide the water but sometimes we just have to drink it ourselves.

 Finally, in stressful situations, sometimes God just requires every inch of our being to get through our current trial. When the Israelites were marching through the entire night to battle and after fighting all day, God then sent down hail to kill more than the Israelites swords did and also had the sun stay still through the next night. In the midst of the marching I'm sure the soldiers were furious and couldn't see how God would eventually move in miraculous ways. Yet after the battle, what do you bet not one person regretted seeing God work supernaturally that day/night/thing. So even if we don't see God in the midst of trials, he will work it to His benefit eventually. 

 Through everything that has been going on the last few weeks, her message was exactly what I needed to hear.  Not only did it show me that God is present in all situations, but it also made me realize how sexist I can be. Who knew?