Psalm 16:8
“I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”
During my junior year of college, I was leading a group from our Baptist Student Union at UNC-Chapel on a mission trip to Richmond, VA. We had just finished an evening devotion time and before we left the sanctuary, my phone rang. I got some news that made me sit back down on the pew. My high school friend Trey had passed away.
Trey had been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma during my freshman year at Carolina. He was a year behind me in school, so he was still in high school. He fought the cancer hard and managed to get to remission. After taking a year off from school, Trey was able to come back and even play football again. He scored a touchdown that season; a special moment for any offensive lineman…let alone one that had been through his medical journey.
Not long after that year, Trey’s cancer returned. It was apparent that this one would be a much harder battle. Trey struggled through long hospital stays. In the midst of that difficult season, Trey was able to graduate from high school. Before calling the names of all the graduates, the assistant principal had given the official line, “Please hold your applause until all the names have been called.” The moment Trey’s dad rolled him across the stage in his wheelchair with his oxygen mask on…let’s just say that instruction went out the window. Standing ovation, roaring applause, and not a dry eye in the house. Trey’s “walk” across the stage is something I will never forget. It is a lasting graduation image.
Graduations are a time to celebrate. Hard work happens over the course of many years. Maybe your graduation is far behind you by now, but I bet you too have a lasting memory of yours, your child’s, or perhaps even your grandchild’s graduation.
Trey had a great quote that I often think about. He would say, “No matter what, you gotta strut.” Life for our graduates is changing. Whether it’s high school, college, or graduate school, each graduation is a milestone as well as a shift—a new season is on the horizon. We pray for our graduates, as well as ourselves, that we can do as the Psalmist said: Keep our eyes always on the Lord. With God at our right side, it doesn’t mean that we won’t experience ups and downs in this life. But it does mean that we have a firm foundation. We have a God who will not be shaken and so our faith can do likewise.
Graduates, always remember: No matter what, you gotta strut.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for times to celebrate like graduation. We pray for our graduates in their new season of life and that we too be renewed in our daily life. In Jesus’ holy name we pray, amen.