What is going on? Is God against me finishing my degree?!

Use the experience to learn from it. The borrower is a slave to the lender.
Pro. 22:7 The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower [is] servant to the lender.
Rom 13:8
Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law
Tomorrow does not belong to us and when we make contracts or vows as if it does we are living in presumption.

 

I would add this. I hope you live for the Lord instead of yourself and if you get into any kind of leadership in the church I pray that you have learned that credit is not the way to go. Plan ahead, save and pay cash for what is needed.
Learn Isa. 40:31
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint.
God bless

 

I am not trying to be smart here, but rather hope you are able to see what really has happened. Yes you had an option, wait until you could pay for it. If you had followed that prescription you would not be where you are. Your college was not an emergency. Pay as you go. Now the Lord is being dishonored because the loan is in default. As I stated I pray that you have learned a valuable lesson and if you ever lead a church or a family of your own it will carry over into that leading as well.

 

Thank you for your sweet testimony and honor that you have shown toward your parents by helping and abiding.

Your goal is to serve the Lord. That is good - do not neglect the gift that is in you, by being discouraged.

Paul wrote Tim about a similar aspect of being discouraged, except in Tim's case it was his youth being used as a block by himself and others in achieving what God had given.

Discouragement can be a tool of evil that chips way from your vision and goals.

My daughter is a person who might be used as an example. Even as a wee child she had a heart for Africa - and especially the medical needs. She is had many discouraging setbacks, the physical and financial burdens were overwhelming, and it seemed that the vision was smoke and mirrors. However, in each setback and through each discouragement she has seen the Lord work in building character, stamina, wisdom and knowledge... Short story - She got on a plane today for her second trip to Africa as a nurse on a medical team. God is to be praised for all that He has done in molding Her life to His service.

Ron Hamilton wrote a song about his own discouragement and struggles.

God never moves without purpose or plan,
when trying His servant or molding a man.
Give thanks to the Lord though your testing seems long;
In darkness He giveth a song.

I could not see through the shadows ahead;
So I looked at the cross of my Savior instead.
I bowed to the will of the Master that day;
Then peace came and tears fled away.

Now I can see testing comes from above;
God strengthens His children and purges in love.
My Father knows best, and I trust in His care;
Through purging more fruit I will bear.

O rejoice in the Lord. He makes no mistake.
He knoweth the end of each path that I take.
For when I am tried and purified,
I shall come forth as gold.​

The women on the thread have given you some really great advice and hopefully you will contact them by private messaging and use their wisdom (as the Scriptures say is to be done) in helping steady the path God has placed your feet to trod.

We men are good at giving advice and opinions, but it is the Godly women that you should be visiting with and heeding - for that is Scriptural.

Blessings upon you and yours!

 

Oks Princess, I'm glad you updated!! Let me commend you on the growth that shows so well in your update. You sound MUCH more in control of your life and dreams and you are moving forward and that is wonderful! Keep up the faith and follow the Lord's leading.

So much changes in a year's time. Amazing really. I myself went back to school (yes at age 48) in January. A week ago the Lord called my husband home. What will happen to my education? No clue. I will hopefully get on when I talk to the benefit office at my husband's workplace. I also have a daughter who is about to enter her junior year at university. Here I have a clue (because she has a scholarship) and I believe at this moment that her education might continue uninterupted. But I have to hold on to the my faith that the Lord will take care of us. The Bible says that He is Father to the fatherless and I choose to believe it is so and I have had it proven to me over and over these past two weeks.

But enough about me. Hold to the faith and don't be afraid of curves in the path. You never know when one of those will open up onto such a beautiful view life that you can't help but "be still and know that I am God".

(((hugs)))

 

Hi Princess,

I'm reading your thread for the first time and thought that I could say something useful. I entered college in 1976 and planned to study to be a Medical Technologist. As a student I was one of those you mention early on, I had fun and didn't apply myself much at all.

Instead of a B.S. in Medical Technology I settled for a B.S. in liberal arts. I have to say that life has and continues to treat me well though. Since 1981 though I have had a hard time dealing with the fact that in my mind at least I failed in my stated goal and quite frankly I have said on many occasions that if I knew what I wanted to do in life I would simply just do it!

I have always held the conviction that I had the intelligence and ability to achieve my academic goals but that I so messed up my academic reputation and would probably have to start all over if I wanted to have the degree I desired. My main problem was that I lacked the math skills required for chemistry and physics and I didn't at the time give any thought to taking a year or two detour to take algebra and so forth at the college level and go from there.

I have thought about this many times over the past 35 years and felt that there was nothing I could do about it. But on Jan 7, 2011, at the age of 52 I suffered a tib/fib fracture and was out on leave for about 6 weeks. Slowly over this time period I began to ask myself "why not?" Why not go back and address the problem that caused the grief in the first place (math)?

So I enrolled in my local Comunity College and so far have completed Algebra "101 and 102". In the fall I'm taking college algebra and un upper level biology class. In the spring 2013 semester I'm taking an upper level chemistry class and another science class, that "another" science class, whatever it turns out to be will be the first class I will take this time around that will actually count towards a MT degree.

Once I take everything I can at my CC that will apply towards a MT degree I will transfer to a state univ part time and after a few semesters there will have to take my internship. Not sure how I will handle that but for me now the main thing is I have overcome the main sticking point--algebra. I'm doing all this and working a full time and part time job plus the other responsibilities of life.

No matter how it pans out for me, I will be closing in on age 60 when I'm done. I know you don't want to wait that long and you will not as long as you work towards your goal you will achieve it. Do not let yourself believe like I did and think all is lost because it isn't. God will do a mighty work in you, be stubborn and chip away of this huge rock one peice at a time. Never never never give up!

 

Things are going good - look out sometimes that is when things start going bad Just wanted to rain on your sunny day a little but honest it is meant as an encouragement to what you have been through

Glad you worked through the whole mess, it is just experience for further messes that may well come along.

My wife was planning to retire in January. In June she went in for open heart surgery for a birth defect she had all her life but was now giving problems. She did well in the surgery but had a small stroke in the process, then she developed blood clots in both legs and lungs, then she had a bad reaction to one of the drugs she was on, then they found she had developed a bleeding ulcer and I won't bore with the other details, problems and rehab.

Several doctor's and nurses told her that had she not been in excellent physical health to start with she would never have made it through the two month mess.

The point - I don't think she would have made it through the mess emotionally had she not been a totally strong person spiritually and emotionally before the surgery. How did she gain the strength? Through MANY changes of plans, directions and everything else though our lives.

God brings things along to build our strength for what He knows is coming along in the future. Not to say you are going to have a lot of bad in life, but to say, you can handle what bad does come along.

A second reason God often brings hard into our lives is so that we can be of comfort/assistance to others as we meet them in the middle of their messes. In reading through these eight pages I think I see a lot of that coming through.

And always when I give advice I always try to preface it by saying, don't ever take anyone's advice unless it comes from God the one that knows best.

And don't forget about more education in the future, it can always be a help if the Lord so directs.