Elevated Friday, July 24th, 2020

Happy Elevated Friday! Today we highlight an incredible story of humility and perseverance that is sure to inspire. Rehan Staton is a 24-year-old student who was just accepted into Harvard Law School, the premier law school in the nation. What makes this story inspiring is not what he achieved though, but how he did it and what he overcame to achieve it. Rehan came from a broken family, his mother deserting the family when he was 8. He learned what hard work meant from a young age and even though his grades were not stellar, he poured himself into boxing and marital arts, trying find a way out of poverty through sports. Though he made it to national and international competitions, his dream was derailed by a rotator cuff injury that caused him to retire in his teenage years. By 18, his grades were so poor that he was rejected from every college he applied to. Without other options, he accepted a job with Bates Trucking and Trash. For most 18 year olds, this would be a low point, but this is the point when Rehan’s life began to turn around. His colleagues encouraged him because they saw him as a bright young man and because of that belief and with the help of the owner of the company, he enrolled in Bowie State University. There, he scored a 4.0 GPA and transferred to the University of Maryland. But as things usually go, Rehan’s struggles were not entirely behind him. In his junior year, his father suffered a stroke and Rehan had to return to work at Bates to save their family home. Instead of giving up on his studies and dreams though, he awoke each day at 4 am to work his shift before class. In 2018 he graduated with accolades and scored well on the LSAT exam. With the help of a professor and mentor at the University of Maryland, he applied to law school and set his dreams high. He was accepted into Harvard and will go on to do great things from the education he will receive there. He told Today, “After going through everything that we did as a family, I just felt that we got into Harvard, and like, I just can’t even explain it. It was ‘we.’” Rehan’s story shows just how much humility, hard work, and care for others will pay off in time.

Jesus proclaimed during his Sermon on the Mount that, “God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.” Humility isn’t just about not bragging or counting others as more important than ourselves (though it includes those); humility is more about understanding that none of us achieves anything alone and those who helped along the way should be honored. Humility means approaching life giving honor to God and others rather than expecting praise from them. God has a plan for each of us and places the people and circumstances in our lives that He will use to bring us to the place He wants us. For this to happen though, for us to “inherit the earth,” we must be humble and serve the Lord in all things. Today, reflect on how you can better honor God and the people and circumstances He put in your life through humility.

“God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.” – Matthew 5:5 NLT

Original Article:

https://bit.ly/2ZRFhEJ