When asked if I wanted to receive a blessing before the start of the semester, I answered no. There are several reasons for my answer, all of them bad.
First, I thought that I didn't really need one. I felt prepared and confident that I could handle at least the first few weeks of class without extra help from God.
I was foolish to think that. Several times in the scriptures, groups and individuals express confidence in their own abilities, and decry the need for God's help, and when they boast of their own strength, God leaves them to their own strength, and they rediscover how weak they really are. We often don't realize how much God helps us in our lives or how much we rely on that help. I should have acknowledged my perpetual need for God's help by seeking His blessing on my upcoming semester.
The second reason I turned down the blessing was because I felt that the moment was too mundane. Blessings are usually requested and granted in extreme circumstances, when there are great challenges or when a lot is at risk. At least, that's what I thought. The start of a new semester seemed too normal to me to be worthy of requesting a blessing. In my opinion, it just didn't seem right to seek a special blessing for such an unspecial occasion.
But there are no unspecial occasions. Each moment is miraculously given and could contain a decision on which our eternal lives could depend. The start of a new semester may seem routine to me by now, but surprises can come at any time, especially when any kind of changes are made. I've already received a few surprises and felt the need for God's help this semester. I should have asked for His help earlier, so I could have been better prepared.
The third reason is similar to the second. I didn't want to waste the blessing. Asking for a blessing when I didn't think I'd need it felt like a waste of God's time and energy. I didn't think it was worth any portion of God's power to make sure the first few weeks of the semester would go smoothly when I thought they were going to anyway. When a ball is already rolling in the direction and speed that you want it to, and you know that it will continue to do so, it doesn't make sense to spend any time or energy on pushing it.
What I failed to take into account is that God has an infinite amount of time and energy. Even if I had asked God to divert a large portion of His power to making sure I'd have a good semester, and even if He did, He'd still have an infinite amount of power to devote to everything else He wants and needs to do. It is not possible to waste an infinite resource by using it all up. In fact, you might even say that the only way to waste an infinite resource is to not use it at all, which is what I elected to do.
Any way you look at it, I should have requested a blessing. It wouldn't have been a waste of God's time or energy, because He has time and energy to spare. It wouldn't have been too mundane a moment, because there are no mundane moments. And it wouldn't have been overkill to make sure I was extra prepared for what the first day of school would throw at me because it turned out that I wasn't prepared enough. Next chance I get, I'm going to ask for that blessing. Better late than never. And who knows? I may need it even more later than I do now. Since God has offered me access to a portion of His infinite power, it would be foolish of me not to use it, even if I incorrectly think that it would be a waste.
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