Monday, 07 July 2008
-
Bringing God to Law School...and the Courtroom
I think my biggest struggle with God is between faith and fact. I believe wholeheartedly in God, the facts of the Bible, and so forth, but my problem lies in the faith aspect of it all; that is, my inability to trust in God fully when times are difficult. Even when times are more uncertain than difficult, my mind and heart start to wander from God and His plan.I've just started The Case For Faith and it's really encouraging my faith, little by little, even though I'm only up to page 34. When I think about law school a lot and the absence of God in that environment, I get pretty scared and anxious. I keep telling myself that God has a plan for me, but that doesn't always get rid of the anxiety that I feel when I think about school. Sometimes I wonder what I'm really afraid of. Is it that people are going to disapprove of me, or that people will disprove God for me?
No, I know that God has a strong hold on me regardless of how I feel or think. I want to have the kind of faith that moves mountains, the kind that will help me to endure the persecution and ridicule from non-believers.
I need prayer for the upcoming years. I wonder if law school is going to be the right decision, but I know that God is calling me to be there. I have only a few weeks left and I sometimes feel like I'm about to begin a battle and I know that God will overcome, but I'm just anxious about the war itself.
Do you get anxious about the path you're on and how you're going to include God in your future endeavors?
-
recommend
- recs 0
-
share
-
email
- sent 0
Related Posts
Post a Comment
- Back to revelife's Revelife Site!
- Note: your comment will appear in revelife's local time zone: GMT -05:00 (Eastern Standard - US, Canada)
Comments (14)
I have been a law student for over a year. To tell you the truth, I see God very often within the walls of Law School. What is surprising but true is that, our law (I suppose you are studying the Common law as well, i.e. in the US, Australia, the UK or other Commonwealth Countries) was built on the foundation of the Bible. As you will know as you pursue your study, the reason we believe in justice, in freedom, in natural reasons (that we know what is right and what is wrong) is because of a God who is just, who loves freedom and who has given his people a heart that distinguishes right from wrong. Many rules are said to be built on the concept of economic efficiency, which is correct, but they are also built on the conscience of men. And where does the conscience of men come from? I bet you know the answer, God. So don't worry about your faith being challenged in Law School. In fact, my faith was seldom (if not never) challenged. In this postmodernism era, people simply do not care about what you believe in, let alone challenging you. Of course, that poses another problem, which is difficult to spread the good news out, but thats already another problem which is completely different from the one facing you now.
Wish you all the best in your Law School!
Good luck with your studies! I am past school, now, but I went through different places and environments that were scary like that. There was this verse that helped me, it goes "He who has called you is faithful, and He will do it." 1 Thess. 5:24. I have claimed that verse through many of the hard times. As long as He has called you, you can trust Him to get you through!
p.s. I, also, really liked Case for Faith.
I'm not sure about the whole law thing. But you do want to let Jesus shine where ever you go. yeah there are a lot of people to disprove of God. You need to stand for what you know is true and get wisdom from the Lord in whatever area of law you are in.
It is simply human nature to feel what you do. The most important thing to remember is that God is faithful, and was long before we accepted His Son Jesus. God has done the work for us, we just have to walk with Him in it. Faith is an attribute of God which takes ownership of us. We often think that it is we who must take ownership of faith, but it is God and His faithfulness which must take ownership of all we are, have and do. God is able, most especially when you are not.
For most of us it is easy to believe in God when things are going good. Because of all that is happening in the world, it is hard to believe that God is an active part in all of this when there is so much sorrow. I have been on the walk you are on for many years (40) and I can tell you that in my time of greatest struggle to believe I only have to look back to see where God was when I thought it was coming apart. You see, God is a gentleman. He will not force Himself on us. That is why He created us with free choice. We can choose to believe or not but that does not mean He is not there. He will work out His good work with the choices we make even if they are hurting us. He will then take the sorrow we have created and use it to call our heart back to Him. God bless you as you seek Him out in your studies and life. Remember that He says, "I am the LORD thy God I change not." I assure you that when He says something, you can bank on it.
@skywalker - thanks for that mini pep talk! it makes me feel better about attending school, knowing that we serve a just God who created the law before we were born.
-miss magnolia
@k_stin@xanga - that's a great verse to remember!
@skywalker - I find it different where I'm at, but not by that much. I'm a senior in psychology at my school and I find that it's the most difficult to share to people who are psychology majors. I find that people find so much faith in psychology because it seems to explain human behavior so much more better than what God says in the Word. However, I find it difficult to explain PSYCHOLOGY without the inclusion of God; but many of the undergraduates in the department seem to believe that since Christian values cannot be accepted because God cannot be experimentally tested, then it's "inadmissible evidence", so to speak.
However, the goal and the struggle remains the same, which is to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth and to the people that we encounter on a daily basis. In the end, we must encourage each other not to lose hope and to remember that God is the basis of our knowledge and of our strength, not anything that man has claimed to think up himself.
I just graduated from law school, and am currently studying for the Michigan bar exam (which is testing my trust in God more than ever). I went through almost exactly the same thought process as you during my first year of law school, wondering how I would reconcile these two very important aspects of my life (God and the career He's called me to), and fearing that I would be weakened, instead of strengthened, in my faith. The opposite happened. Yes, it was a challenging, liberal, and skeptical environment. Yes, many of my friends and professors lived a lifestyle exactly opposite from mine. Yes, I was faced with the logic v. belief debate. But as you said above, God does stick with us, and He met my every need, even when I didn't think He was. Cling to your knowledge that He's called you to do this; don't spend time worrying ahead about how you will deal with things, but trust that God will give you wisdom and grace for each situation; and yes, prepare yourself for battle, but not by worrying - rather by reminding yourself of God's promises. I do still wonder (and worry) about how God and I will work things out as I start to practice law, but I know that, even in my mistakes (and I've made plenty, particularly in law school, where I was certainly not always a good example of a child of God. Yet, I was known as the "good girl" and associated with being a "Jesus person," so evidently God still showed through somehow), His power is perfected.
As a profession, it is no different from any other. Without your personal commitment to your faith, you can and probably will waver, so that is a moot point. The skepticism taught in law school is not an opponent of Christianity either; without skepticism, there is no faith outside of foolish, blind faith, and when has Christianity been afraid of intellectual debate?
In regard to the law itself, I'm sure you've seen or heard many instances where religion (Christianity, specifically) has been targeted or seemingly discriminated against. Every day, it seems Christianity is being taken out of the classroom, out of our town halls, etc as a result of some lawsuit. The courts of law must hate Christianity, it seems.
I'm not going to give you some bogus argument that Christianity is alive and well because of the "In God We Trust" on our currency, and the other extant traditions we follow which are based in Christianity, nor can I tell you that the law is based on God's sense of justice, etc. Instead, I ask you to consider a nation that does not have Christianity/Catholicism as its majority (supposedly, at least); consider the many Islamic nations that have laws that discriminate or hurt Christians. Would the legal system be better if it favored Christianity just because it happens to be the majority religion?
In the end, the law attempts to provide order and to protect, albeit imperfectly. By providing people with the freedom of religion, it has to prevent any religion from being favored over another. Otherwise, your ability to live a Christian life without persecution would rise and fall with societal demographics. That said, try to picture the law as not a concept or an ideal that conflicts with Christianity, but as a vehicle that enables you to practice your faith. It may be imperfect, but all things outside of God tend to be.
There are many who are powerful or at least more experienced in the law than I who are also very active, practicing Christians (I say this because I saw an article not too long ago in a Church pamphlet and the writer was discussing how he had combined his faith with his practice of law), and if you ever have the opportunity, I suggest you pick their minds for a more coherent and experienced take on Christianity's place within the legal system.
BTW, I just realized that you may not be based in the U.S., so as you may have noticed, all references made were to the U.S. legal system, but it should'nt change anything if you're attending school elsewhere. =)
Hope this helped, and if you have any further questions concerns, I'll try my best to address them.
@taintedwine@xanga - @marieka_s - thanks for both of your comments. i think your words are definitely encouraging and i won't forget them when i begin school in the fall.
@le_meme_chose - Uh
oh, you're Miss Magnolia? I think I sorta admonished you along with
someone else on another one of your posts about deviating from topic,
haha. Forgive me? =P
@taintedwine@xanga - don't worry about it. all in good fun right? riiight.
Hey,
I just graduated from law school (although I went to a Christian law school so it may be a different experience lol) but God is calling a lot of Christians to be lawyers. Right now I am studying for the bar in CA and that is tough. Keep me in your prayers and if you need to talk to a fellow Christian lawyer feel free to send me a message. Main point: you are not alone.