If you’ve been in Christian circles for any amount of time, there is no doubt you’ve seen this verse on bookmarks, t-shirts, mementos, and home décor. For many years I used this verse with exuberance as a battle cry, “Watch out, world! I can accomplish anything through Christ.”

Each fall semester I teach a section of Palm Beach Atlantic University’s First Year Experience course. This course is designed to assist first year students as they acclimate to college life and help them develop the skills they need in order to succeed, both in college and beyond. I start each class session off with a devotion. The verse that I share on the very first day of class is Job 8:7. Although the Book of Job may be an unusual choice to begin the year with, I like starting with this verse because it is a good reminder that we are all growing, and that there may be some suffering along the way. Things may seem overwhelming at times, especially when you are new, whether you’re a new student or a new employee. But in the end, when you look back over your time at a particular institution or a specific phase of your life, you can see how much you learned and grew.

Imagine a young boy who did not like memory work being asked by his grandparents to memorize the One Hundredth Psalm for the thank offering over a weekend. The incentive was to earn one dollar and learn more about our God. I spent the weekend with the Bible working on memorizing this psalm in the two upstairs bedrooms. Finally, on the second day I could say it all the way through. I took the Bible with me, gave it to Grandma, and stood to recite it in front of my grandparents who were sitting in two walnut rocking chairs. That sunny afternoon on the front porch of a farm house in the Ozarks was fragrant with fresh cut hay and lilacs in the air and accompanied by the song (pretty, pretty pretty) of the cardinals in the surrounding trees.