S3 Stories of Strength

He is There!

Hello! My name is Lauren. I attend Colleyville Heritage High School. I have been involved with Students Standing Strong for four years.

One of my favorite biblical stories is in Genesis 3. In short, God created a perfect world, placed Adam and Eve in it, and told them they were not allowed to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Falling into temptation, Adam and Eve ate from the tree bringing us to Genesis 3:8, a verse I relate to very much. “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the Garden”.

I’m going to be honest and say something that I have been afraid to admit for a long time: I am not perfect. Sometimes I forget to read my Bible, choose my way over God’s, and put my identity in the things of this world. When my sins are brought to my attention, my first instinct is to hide from God, as Adam and Eve did in Genesis 3:8. I want to go somewhere away from Him and somehow fix myself. A mentor once explained it to me like this: Our life is a clay pot that we have smashed. On our own, we try to pick up the broken pieces and mend the pot, resulting in a huge mess of Elmer’s glue and tears. However, when we give the broken pieces to God, He takes them and fixes the pot perfectly, making it into a beautiful masterpiece.

Sometimes I am afraid that my sins are too great. I think that if I am a Christian, I should not have to repent from my sins since I shouldn’t be committing them in the first place. So, I hide. Deuteronomy 31:8 says, “It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Did you get that? “He will not leave you!” No matter how many times you sin, how far in your walk with Christ you are, or where you come from, God will never leave! He is with you through the best and the worst of times. When I go to God with my problems rather than hiding and dwelling on them, I am freed! I challenge you to go to God with your questions, sins, and problems. He is there, waiting for you with open arms, ready to free you.

Blessings,

Lauren, Colleyville Heritage, S3 Student

Greater is He

Students Standing Strong (S3) has been such an encouragement for me! Becoming a part of S3 has held me accountable to not conform to our sometimes scary world, and to stand firm in my faith.

High School can be especially tough. But S3 has truly helped me find my place in a heavily secular culture! S3 has guided me in finding lovely, Christ-like friends. It is so important to surround yourself with Christ followers in order to share the Gospel with others.

I encourage you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, to dwell on 1 John 4:4 and know that no matter the trials you may face in this world, God will prevail in all His Glory and show to be far greater than any societal difficulties.

“Greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world”

-Promise, S3 student

Judges 17:6 states, “In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.”

-Boyd, Friend of S3

Growth Through S3

Students Standing Strong (S3) played a vital role in my faith as a student in GCISD. It served as the benchmark for personal growth and solid community, especially during my 4 years at Grapevine High School.

By the time I was a senior in 2014, I was serving as S3 President, which really motivated me to pursue Christ in a way that would point others to Him.

While busy with school and football, S3 gave me an opportunity to slow my week down, recenter my focus, and truly grow in my faith with friends and classmates. It challenged my thinking as well as my actions. It motivated me to be the best version of myself as well as prepared me for the challenges that I later faced in college.

Without S3, I can genuinely say that I would not be the same man, brother, or son that I am today. I am very appreciative for all the people who make S3 run so smoothly and effectively.

I would encourage anyone who is on the fence to attend at least one S3 Bible club and see what it’s all about. I can assure you that you will be welcomed with open arms and will leave encouraged, ready to face life’s many challenges.

Best,
Clint, S3 Alum

Our Missing Piece of Peace.

If we constantly search for our missing piece in perfection we will be without peace.

I often times find myself blaming friendships, social media, and circumstances for my lack of peace in life. When I feel alone in a friendship I accuse that person. When I look at social media and log off feeling less than enough, I blame social media as a whole. I become anxious about my circumstances because, instead of trying to see the hope in them, I see similar past situations that didn’t meet my personal expectations.

I’ve spent so long trying to shape my life to meet unreasonable expectations of perfection that I crave, that I’ve missed the true issue. God revealed that my need for perfection was my battle. I think because God created Adam and Eve without knowing sin, part of us longs to be that perfect version of a human again. We long for our missing piece.

As human beings we will always fall short, but when we look to God we can find that missing piece that we had been searching for in the wrong places. In the areas that are uncomfortable and full of confusion, is where we grow the most and find peace because we learn to lean on God.

I will never find peace in striving for perfection. God has shown me that the way to leave my expectations of perfection behind is to embrace vulnerability. Vulnerability is messy, and even scary sometimes, but in the end, that is where freedom is found. We can stop running and blaming everything and everyone else in our lives for our unhappiness, and realize that the problem is in the refusal to accept imperfection.

2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “My power is made perfect in your weakness.” So why run from the thing that brings us and God together? Our weakness plus God’s strength makes the dream team, so let’s embrace it!

Prayer: God, I know that I will always fall short of perfection; show me how to embrace my imperfections. Free me from my exhausting cycle of searching for peace in anything other than you Lord. Open my eyes, God, to see the beauty in being uncomfortable because that is where I will truly grow. Father take my weakness and use it for your greater good. I love you! In your name I pray. Amen.

Sincerely, Belle