To the Class of 2020

You got the news that your senior year would come to an end rather abruptly.

Thoughts of all that you would miss out on probably flooded your mind.

The last time you would get to put on your jersey with your teammates. Prepare for your UIL event. Put on one last show with the band, Pick out your last prom dress. Sit at the lunch table or going to eat with your friends during your off period. And the one that hurts the most, putting on the cap and gown to experience a once in a lifetime moment. The last time you would gather with your friends and classmates that many of you have spent the majority of your life with, gone.

There’s no denying it.

It sucks. It’s unfair. It’s painful.

But here’s what I want you to know.

It is ok to be mad. It’s ok to be upset. It’s ok to be sad. It’s ok to not know what to feel. It’s ok to not be ok.

You have every right to feel your emotions. Why? Because Jesus did the same thing.

Jesus wept. John 11:35 points out these two words in the Bible that show us that it’s ok to hurt. It’s ok to feel. It’s ok to let yourself be vulnerable.

Jesus wept so we could too.

Jesus shows us something else important here. Jesus is all-knowing and all-powerful, which means that He knew that in just a few moments after his expression of grief and sorrow that Lazarus would be raised from the dead! That everything would be ok.

Don’t miss this.

Jesus showed us, that even though we might know that things will be ok in the future, it’s still ok to hurt in the present.

How do we know that things will be ok? Because God is sovereign. Meaning that He knows all things. Ok doesn’t mean that everything will work out the way you think it will, it means that this is not a surprise to Him.

Just because it is no surprise to Him, doesn’t mean that our Father in Heaven doesn’t care. Let’s be clear.

God cares about your pain.

How do you know Levi? Glad you asked.

The deepest pain that we could ever experience was the shame, guilt, and weight of sin. Not just sin, but the weight and reality of being separated from our Father in Heaven for eternity. That is unarguably the most painful circumstance and situation that we could ever feel, and what was God’s response to that?

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

The response that God gives us is the most thoughtful, caring, considerate, sacrificial, and loving thing He could. He mended our pain with His son.

That’s how much God cares for you.

He sees you and your pain. He sees you and your worries, He sees you and your anger. He sees you and your disappointment. He sees you.

Parents, He sees you too. Just like your child, you’ve dreamed of their senior year for years. Not in the hopes of rushing to it, but excited to see their future unfold and become everything they’ve dreamed of since their first day of kindergarten. Parents: Mourn. Grieve. Cry. But you can find comfort in knowing, that God loves them more than you ever could. Not to discredit your love or invalidate it, but you can find comfort in knowing that there is a God that loves them PERFECTLY.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33

 

In Conclusion:  though this season of your life is possibly one of the most difficult seasons you’ve been through, your pain has a purpose. Your pain is valid and you have every right to feel your emotions. Jesus wept out of sadness for his friends, flipped tables in anger and frustration because of injustices, and sweated blood from the anguish and weight of preparing to carry our cross. He knows what you’re feeling and cares.

To the class of 2020, you are loved greatly and are not forgotten.

God loves you. He sees your pain. You are not alone.