Academic Probation

"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16

If my memory is correct, I was placed on academic probation during my junior year in college. The problem stemmed from me being in a major I did not enjoy and struggled to understand; Accounting. Given the fact that I was a pretty good student back in High School, one of the main obstacles facing me was pride. How could I admit that I was doing poorly when I am supposed to be this smart guy? There was also a lot of fear. What will my parents say if they find out that all the money being spent on school is going to waste? Also, since I didn't enjoy school much, the prospect that I may have to spend more time and money in order to graduate someday didn't sit well with me. Eventually, I remember speaking to my parents about it and they simply said similar words to, "If you need to come home and go to a smaller school, then we will do that." So much for being afraid to tell my parents. There was no condemnation. guilt trip or anything, just a rational and loving response. As far as school went, what I ended up doing was meeting with the Dean of the Business School. He realized that I had not been a problem student and allowed me to switch majors. The accounting classes that I did pass were switched to my electives and then I only had to take four core classes to satisfy the requirements to get my degree. Not only did I graduate with a degree in Marketing, I did so on time; within four years. Long story short, everything worked out. My point in all of this is how fear and uncertainty can paralyze us and, ultimately, keep us in the bad situations we find ourselves in where they will only get worse. Have you ever experienced a time when you were afraid to tell somebody about a bad situation because of the apparent consequences that you believed you would have to endure? Eventually, things can get so bad that the truth comes out anyway.Then those people who would have been able to help can no longer help or the price to pay to fix the situation is higher. Normally, the people who wonder why you didn't ask for help will say something like, "Why didn't you come to us sooner?" There is really no good answer, but our response usually has something to do with being afraid of the consequences, that we didn't want to disappoint others, we wanted to avoid punishment or maybe we just thought things would work themselves out on their own. No matter how much a parent loves us, we still get it in our heads we can't talk to them about our problems. Although, I knew the Dean of the Business School knew my circumstances and could help me out, I delayed going to him. There is this fear of "authority" that keeps us from finding answers and direction to problems in our life.

When it comes to God, are we any different? Christians hear all the time that God loves us. We know that the Scriptures tell us He will never leave us or forsake us. Yet, we focus on His wrath and it paralyzes us from approaching Him. One may look through the Old Testament and see page after page of Man's failure and God's wrath. He kicked Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden. Cain was left to be a fugitive and vagabond by God. The entire earth was destroyed by God except for the family of Noah. The people of the earth were scattered and had their language confused at the Tower of Babel. Sodom and Gomorrah were wiped from the face of the earth. We see story after story of this from Genesis to Malachi. And why did God do all of this? It was punishment for the sins of the people. Therefore, our fear of God and the consequences for our sins would seem justified, right? Wrong. "And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight ...(Colossians 1:21-22)." It is what we believe in our minds that make us feel separated from God and afraid of His wrath. I was afraid of speaking to my parents and to the Dean because of what I believed in my mind. However, in reality, there was nothing separating me from them. They didn't hold my "sin" of performing poorly in school against me. My parents supported me and the Dean gave me a plan to work. With God, He is no longer holding our sins against us. Therefore, there is no wrath awaiting us. He has cleared a path for us to Him that we only need to walk through in order to speak to Him. It was through the death of Jesus Christ that any punishment for our sins was taken away for eternity. Now, we can confidently approach God in our time of need in order to experience His grace and mercy. It is then that He can love us, support us and give us direction in life. He won't kick us out of His presence, but will never leave us or forsake us. We are not homeless and hiding from Him because He has made a place for us. He won't wash us away in the flood waters because He has washed away our sins with the blood of Jesus' sacrifice. We are not scattered from His presence and can understand His language because, in Christ, He said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me (John 10:27)." He won't destroy us for our sins like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah because He tells us, "And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:11)." If you are afraid of God because of your sins, there is something you are believing that is incorrect. it is time that you renew your mind on the truth so you can approach God with confidence and live your life free from the fear of God's wrath.