If I had to answer the question of who I am, I would say a daughter of the King, finally coming into her own. I grew up in a large family. As a child, I was always referred to as “one of the Everhart children.” As I grew older and matured, I came to understand that I was more than “one of,” I was one. One as in one person, an individual. Yes, God had made me part of a set, but He had made me an individual as well. So, who was I? Like many, I tried to discover my identity through my talents. It didn’t work. I then tried to find my identity through my calling. It didn’t work either. I tried to find my identity in where I was in life and the places I was going. It didn’t work either. I was left with a million descriptors of a person I didn’t know. As I laid on the couch frustrated, exhausted, lost, and angry, I had an epiphany.

I existed. I existed because God made me. If God made me, then He also created my identity. Who better to ask about my identity than My Creator? My Creator was The King. And that King is my Father. My Father was patiently waiting for His daughter to come and seek His wisdom. That’s who I am: a Daughter discovering the intricate and wonderful ways The King made me. The rest, as they say, is history.

I am un-associated with confusion, fear, and doubt. God is not the God of confusion, but of peace. At this point in my life, I need clarity and guidance. As a twenty-something recent grad in a world run by media, I am constantly bombarded with ideas, tips, advice, and information from sources I don’t know and that are as limited as me. It seems like every path is open and available to me, and that I’d be a fool not to try them all. I constantly feel lost, out of time and control, desperate, and afraid. I HATE this feeling. I hate it because underlying all this fear and confusion is a strong push to make my own decisions and form my own path. But leading and making paths is God’s territory. The Lord is the shepherd. Shepherds have plans and directions, they know the way. If I submit, He will show me which path to take. With God leading me, I no longer have to worry about confusion, and fear, and doubt. God knows the plans He has for me, plans to give me hope and a future. So, I am un-associated with the things that are not of God, the things that entice me away from the plans He has for me, the things that push me to take His place. (See 1 Cor. 14:33; Psalm 23:1; Pro. 3:6; Jer. 29:11)

I refused to be defined by the things I did in my past and the things I allowed. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. As I walk in my identity, I have found that Satan likes to remind me of the things that I did or allowed when I was less spiritually mature. For years, off and on, I would feel so guilty and convicted about what I had done or allowed. I knew I was excused in the cases where I didn’t know better and forgiven for the cases where I did, but I struggled with the guilt. But God doesn’t hold onto His anger. He has compassion and tramples our sins and casts them into the sea of forgetfulness once we repent. He never remembers our sins. If God forgives my sins and forgets them, who am I to hold onto them? Once I realized this, I cast my sins into the sea of forgetfulness, so that I can no longer be defined (or limited) by my past actions or the things that I allowed. I am a new creature; my old habits are gone, and new ones have come.

I had a conversation with my mother the other day about the pandemic and its effects on us spiritually. We talked about how we were living during a pandemic, but it was like the pandemic was happening around us instead of to us. We saw everything going on around us and we knew the pandemic was affecting a lot of people, but we had this covering on us. I knew what the covering was because I had felt the same peace and safety before. I knew that I was under the wings and will of God. I was witnessing the protection that comes when one dwells in the secret place of the Most High when God is one’s refuge. Not only was I physically protected, but I was also mentally protected as well. I did not fear that COVID would take and destroy myself or my family. I knew that even if one thousand fell on one side and then ten thousand more fell, it would not come near me.

I haven’t passively sat in God’s protection during this pandemic. I have been studying the Word of God more than ever before. I meditate on it so I can understand what is going on, what message God is giving us through all of this, and how to share this protection with others. I also study to extinguish any arrow of doubt or fear that the devil may fire. Any doubt or fear that comes in, I take to God and I thank Him for His answers. When I do this, supernatural peace that exceeds human understanding covers me. This peace pierces through any arrow that the enemy may send. (See Psalm 91:1,7; Psalm 119:130; 2 Tim 3:16-17 Ephesians 6:16; Phil 4:6,7)

I think the greatest trial I have overcome is timing. For years I always felt like I was behind like everyone else was living in real time and I was living in slow motion. I felt this way before social media was prevalent, and the social media explosion didn’t help at all. I kept asking God, “Why am I so far behind everyone? What am I missing?” It wasn’t enough that I had started and graduated grade school and college early, that I graduated undergrad with two majors, that I was going to law school with a scholarship that covered tuition, or that God had covered all of my moving costs from Virginia to New York; I was still behind.

In late 2017 or early 2018, I was watching a sermon by T.D. Jakes. During the sermon, he gave an analogy of friction. Imagine you are sitting in an airplane on a runway. Your flight is supposed to take off in 10 minutes. The airplane moves into position for takeoff but stays put. Ten minutes go by. Another ten. Then twenty more. As each minute passes you get more and more frustrated because according to your schedule you’re supposed to be moving. Each minute you are not moving, each minute you are ‘not on schedule,’ you grow more and more frustrated. The frustration builds and grows until you are ready to get off the plane- regardless of the fact that you will miss your destination. What you don’t know is that air traffic control is preparing the runway for takeoff. It is clearing everything in your path so that when the plane takes off, it can do it so without any issues. At that moment, it finally dawned on me that I always felt behind because I wasn’t on track with the worldly schedule that I created. I hadn’t considered GOD’s schedule for me. I didn’t think about the obstacles He was removing, the planes He was landing, the people He was positioning to help me.

Isaiah 55:8 became personal. My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. I let go of a schedule that I had picked up off social media that had me going nowhere. I tossed it out and learned to trust in God’s schedule and to rest in His omniscience. I submitted my plans to Him, and He directed my path.

This lesson changed my life. When I needed an internship for credit, I gave my plans to God and waited for His instructions. He gave an internship with the Department of Justice. When I had to move back to New York to finish my degree and needed housing and funds, I gave Him my ideas and desires and let Him do as He wished. He provided a fully furnished house within walking distance at half the market cost. When I had to move during a pandemic while studying to take the bar, I made no plans but completely rested in His plans for me. He provided the moving costs, added in a vacation, and provided me a quiet place to study for the bar (which I later passed). As I gave my plans to Him, He blessed me in overabundant ways that I never imagined.

As I trust in Him more and more, He brings me to new dilemmas and obstacles. When I realize that I cannot move it on my own, when I get frustrated in ways that blind me, when I freeze in fear, I remember all that the Lord has done for me. I think that if He took the time to stitch me together in my mother’s womb, then He has a plan for every part of my life. I recall that He is in time and out of time, working all things together for my good. As I place my mind on these heavenly things, the earthly things- including my schedule and timing- disappear, and the King of Glory comes in and reminds me of His word where He tells me that He loves me and that He plans to prosper me. When I open my eyes again, I see how far He has brought me.

When I let go of my schedule and let God take control my life changes. Can I see a link between that trial and where I am today? Absolutely. I can see where I stopped living in my human limitations and when I stepped out and let God work supernaturally. (See Isaiah 55:8; Pro 3:5,6; Psalm 105:5; Psalm 139:13, 16; Rom 8:28; Col. 3:2; Jer. 29:11; See also Psalm 62:1; Rom 15:13; Psalm 118:23-24; Psalm 37:7)

The best advice I can share with the youth of today is to listen for God’s voice. God speaks. And He doesn’t just speak about the big things either. He speaks about what your major should be and He speaks about what route to take home. He gives insight into what job you should take, and He gives insight about what to get your sibling as a birthday gift (this happened to me last week). God speaks. He speaks in a multitude of ways, and He speaks all the time.

There is so much going on in our country and around the world- both good and bad. Through it all, God is speaking. He is telling us about what is to come and how to prepare for it. He is giving us instructions on how to win the country and that neighbor we don’t particularly like to Christ for salvation. He is telling us what to do so we can live our best life. He is speaking to give us life, health, protection, identity. Everything. Listen for God’s voice. He is giving instructions and support and wisdom all day every day. Pray, read your Bible, schedule in time for God, talk with other believers. God is speaking and now, more than ever, we need to listen.