FLBC is not perfect. The people who work at FLBC are not perfect. The students who attend FLBC are not perfect. We live in a fallen world, which includes a fallen campus. Every day people on campus interact with one another, and we are all facing various challenges. And while all of us are not perfect, our God is perfect! As we read in Psalm 37:5, we see the promise that He will act!

One of the beautiful things about FLBC is that it is full of imperfect people trying to serve a perfect God and love one another in the process. I have the privilege of working with our phenomenal staff and with these phenomenal students. In fact, FLBC has a student support team that regularly meets to pray for our students and discuss how we can best support our students. Part of our job is pointing students to our God, who will act.

And God is working. Though God’s timing is often not our timing—praise God for this truth, as hard as it is to grasp sometimes. When we see someone we love struggle, we desperately want to fix it, and we want to fix it as quickly as possible. We want to take away the pain, the struggle, and the sin. Now we serve a God who works miracles every day, but often it seems as if the pain, the struggle, and the sin do not go away as quickly as we would like. Jesus, in fact, states that we will have troubles. He also promises that He has overcome the world. And furthermore, He promises that He will be with us. The troubles will come. It will be hard. And Jesus will be with us in them and through them. What does this look like for students at FLBC? One student shared:

“Before coming here, I struggled with pornography, and I still struggle with it some days. It’s a hard thing to break away from, but I know I can trust in Him to help guide me through my healing journey and that He will be someone I can always turn back to on the days that I do struggle. I can lean on Him as someone who can and will help me fight my battle of sin. He will guide me through His Word and send me people to fight alongside of me. Like it says in II Corinthians 12:11, ‘For when I am weak, then I am strong.’ He will act upon our prayers.”

Another student shared:

“Coming to FLBC, I had a lot of doubts. I was broke and had no job. I have dietary issues and was off the meal plan, so I had no idea how I was supposed to pay for all of it. But Jesus, in His extraordinary power and mercy, allowed me to get a well-paying job in less than a week. I then received an anonymous donation, which allowed me to pay for school and groceries. God provided so much peace in my soul. I was extremely stressed and overwhelmed; I would fall behind in school over the stress of it. But simply trusting in God, He acted in a way I did not expect and helped me. When we go through hardships, trust in Him. God may not answer how we want, but He will answer with what we need.”

Watching someone we love struggle is hard. So hard. Yet the blessing of watching someone see a Jesus who loves them and who acts for their good and for His glory is so worth it.

Michelle Olson [FLBCS faculty], is part of the student support team.