Sustaining Faith in the Classroom

Editor’s note: This article won the honorable mention in this year’s Young Adult Writing Contest, sponsored by Plough Publishing House. This year’s topic was “sustaining faith.”

When I started ninth grade, I expected to fit in with my peers immediately. Instead, I struggled to adjust and find my place. I did not know who to sit with at lunch or who to talk to in class. I felt like I had nothing in common with my other classmates. I hoped I would find friends or be included, but that did not happen right away. I felt lonely, like my piece didn’t fit the puzzle. My peers would laugh and giggle, but I didn't understand the joke. I felt like a ghost. Every day was exactly the same, and I was missing a purpose. I felt like something was missing that I could not quite name.

I was upset and angry because I could not understand why God would allow me to be lonely. I questioned whether anyone cared about me or noticed me. At times, I wondered if God was listening to my prayers or simply ignoring them. This struggle lasted for months, and I often felt like God was absent from all of it. I began to question my identity and whether I mattered to the people around me. I was trying to find my worth in my classmates, rather than in Christ

I tried wearing makeup and dressing like the other girls so they would like me more and I would feel more included. But I needed to understand that God was using loneliness as a way to draw me closer to him. God strengthened my faith by teaching me to pray in hard times, to look to him when I needed help, and to trust his plan for me.

James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Once I heard this verse, I was able to slow down and ponder what was happening in my life and how God might be using it. This verse gave me insight into the purposes of struggles. It reshaped my perspective on how God uses our conflicts to strengthen my faith and bring us closer to him. It was difficult to understand that God could be working through my challenges because, in the moment, I felt disconnected from him, even though I was growing closer to him.

I spent a lot of time thinking about how I could fit in and be accepted by the people around me, so they would like me more. For a while I believed being included would make me feel complete. Eventually, I realized my worth was never meant to be found in other people. My identity and value are found in Jesus. People in the world try to talk, dress, and act a certain way so others will accept them. We often change ourselves just to feel like we belong. But now I have certainty that Jesus has already accepted me without me ever needing to earn it.

People deal with storms and trials every day. We live in a fallen and broken world, dealing with loss, sin, disease, and other hardships. In those trials, I had to learn to trust that God still had a plan, even when I could not see him. During those storms, we have to come back to Christ, rather than walking away from him. In the Bible, God even works through persecution. He was able to spread his message to people all over, even though the early church was being persecuted.

God strengthens our faith by showing that we need him and that he is reliable. God reminds us that he will never leave us. As we go through trials, we gain perseverance and insight. So when the next trial comes, we are able to walk through it stronger than before. When we face another trial, we already know we can trust God and that he will work through it, even when we don’t always see how.

God was able to work through me and showed me I needed to trust him more. I spent so much time trying to force my piece into the wrong places that I forgot God had a place for me. I was able to find friends and people who cared about me. I learned that God was with me even when I felt alone, and that my worth is found only in Jesus. It showed me that trials are soil where faith can grow. Looking back, I can see the purpose for my trials and how much my faith has grown stronger through them. Sustaining faith is not avoiding hardship; it is remaining in Christ through every season of life.