Look Around
“Not a word you speak is ever wasted, not a promise you have left unkept, you are faithful to me through the ages Jesus my Emmanuel… in every season, in every hour, you’re faithful then, you’ll be faithful now…”
These words define the past 55 days in Nashville, Tennessee. Moving to Nashville was not on “my” agenda, but isn’t that the beauty of our naivety and the power of walking with a sovereign God? I often fail at being where I am planted, but I am learning the joy of fully engaging in the season I am placed. I have to believe that God has so purposefully placed all 13 of us Fellows in each vocation, home, and church. I have listened to these lyrics during seasons of joy and seasons of sorrow, but no matter the fickleness of my mind, I am always pointed back to the foundational truth that God never wastes, he never fails, and he is worthy of trust. This was my mindset as I crossed the Georgia/Tennessee line to begin uprooting college and planting the seeds of adulthood.
“Not a word you speak is ever wasted, not a promise you have left unkept”: I have always been a word of the year person, and this year’s word was “redeem”. I felt like the Lord was doing an open-heart surgery, and he was beginning to redeem and prune aspects of my life that were desperate for renewal. “Lord, redeem my view of you and prune what hinders”… this was a common prayer of mine. Well, God is in the business of answering prayers. The fall semester roundtable consists of a class dinner and hearing the testimonies of your peers. Hearing how people —so far, Sam, Hannah, Samantha, John, and Katie —talked about what God was currently redeeming in their lives continued to remind me of the true character of our heavenly Father. Their faith spurred me to renew my view and ask the hard questions. Redemption feels like a common theme in each of our stories, which proves God never wastes any of his words or any of our seasons. He promises to fulfill them in his own time and in his own way. This Fellows class has taught me what an honor it is to wear the badge of redemption given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ.
“You are faithful to me through the ages, Jesus my Emmanuel.” Childhood, youth, college, and now —God has always been directing each step. I felt this as all 13 of us Fellows walked into the opening retreat. We didn’t know each other, but all of our seasons had aligned at this moment. It was and is God ordained. Each of us brings a different personality to the table, which gives us a better view of the eternal kingdom. As each of us moved into our host home—an aspect of the program that can be viewed as awkward—each of us had the opportunity to believe that He is faithful in his placement with our host family. Now, the first day of work is a practical example to all of us of His faithfulness in every hour. Some of us work jobs we have never done before, some work jobs they are passionate about, and others don’t, but each of us, no matter the setting we are in, has the ability to actively learn what it looks like to walk in stewardship of each hour of our workday. We are reminded of the Holy Spirit present throughout. Lastly, we are each learning to walk in faithfulness and belovedness, and learning to take a moment to STOP and LOOK AROUND. We are already a month into the Fellows program, and time is flying. We are actively living in the goodness and the struggle, but we are reminded to stop and look around so that we do not miss the goodness of the Lord in this season.
“In every season, in every hour, you’re faithful then, you’ll be faithful now…”: May we walk our journey with intention so we have the awareness to stop and look around.
Bailey Hicks, Class 13
Hometown: Athens, Georgia
University of Georgia Graduate
