For Those Going To College
Roughly four years ago, I moved to Florida after a brief time in North Carolina to recover from a fairly serious burnout. I had previous spent time as a youth pastor, honored to invest in the lives of young men and women. Yet, the burnout of an unbalanced life (a topic for another post) led me to needing to take time to recover. Returning to Jacksonville, I sought to keep my head down, do my job, and connect with some people. Yet, God had other plans. A parent of a teen approached me about leading a bible study for a group of high schoolers who didn’t have an option for a small group at the time.
Truth be told, I was insanely nervous and hesitant to start back into youth ministry of any kind so soon. Yet, through the course of the bible study, and various people God directed to my path, my heart began to heal of the past hurts and pains caused my burnout. And for the next four years, I poured my heart and soul into teaching and guiding a small group of students, both in the bible study and out of the bible study. Hospital trips. Late night calls. Long theological conversations. Movies. Regular trips for ice cream. All of these framed the ministry that God had been working in the hearts of students and, frankly put, in my heart as well.
Now, four years later, I have to do my least favorite part of this process; let go. Not to say that I am cutting them off, in fact, doing the complete opposite, sending. This year, those I have been honored to serve or going off to Tallahassee, Gainesville, Alabama, California, Indiana, Lakeland, Jacksonville, and many others I can’t even remember. They are going on to financing, marketing, physical therapy, medical, and tons of different options. Two of them feel called to full time ministry and at least one more of them will get there eventually when he realizes it.
New chapters can be difficult. We step into the unknown, trusting that God has actually planned our steps and believing that His plan will never fail us. Going off to college is undoubtedly met with both excitement as far as you wander into this new stage. Furthermore, remember God sustains everything, through the highs and lows. You are never alone and never beyond God’s grace or ability to love, guide, and protect you. He is a loving King jealously pursues you.
Counsel For Those Going Off To College and New Chapters
- Get Connected With A Church. Jesus has chosen the church as His eternal bride. Thus, no one who calls themself a believer can do so on their own. We connect with the global church that spans times and location of all those who have made Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior of their life. Yet, we also must join the local context of the body of Christ by joining a church. As you enter into college, the accountability to go to church goes down. Your parents won’t wake you up in the morning. It’s up to you to get yourself up I and ready to go. My experience is you have 21 days to go to church. The odds go down quickly of attending a church afterwards, straying from the bride of Christ to be discipled by the shifting winds of the world. “And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:12, ESV) You are stronger in community than off on your own. The enemy picks off those strangles who live outside of the safety of Christian community. The church provides the foundation and bedrock of our expression of faith and strengthens us during times of attack by relying on the collective strength of the full body of Christ.
- Stand Firm in Your Faith and Pursuit of God Moving out from your parents place sets you in a new context of adulthood. Now, the faith you hold must become yours rather than the faith of your parents. In order for the Christian to go in maturity, we must take responsibility for our pursuit of God. No Christians grows closer to go without intentional effort to seek out the Lord and where He is calling. But take heart, God does not hid Himself from us and eagerly desires to reveal Himself, His purpose, and His divine plan to those who follow after Him. The world will belittle your attempts to stand firm in your faith, persecute your beliefs, and ostracize you for being obedient to God. ”I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33, ESV) Do not fear the trouble you will definitely face. Jesus Christ has already secured your eternal victory. Therefore, you can rest easy in your faith knowing the victory is secured no matter what others may do to you.
- Trust The Lord Throughout the next chapter (and the next few after) you will gain a great deal of knowledge, thinking you have everything figured out. Yet, I promise you, few adults actually have everything figured out. We are doing our best. For the Christian, we trust the Lord to guide our daily steps, our overall goals, and to provide us with what we need. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord , and turn away from evil.” (Proverbs 3:5-7, ESV) God’s plan will always be better than our own as He is sovereign and omniscient, knowing all things. Furthermore, He is a benevolent God who wants us to experience the fullness of His love for all eternity. We can trust Him through the unknown and scary. Remember to pray for direction, to regularly seek time to hear from the Lord, and to discern His will for your life. Ultimately, we know that our lives in the hands of God will be better off than in our own.
Words cannot adequately describe how proud I am of the men God has allowed me to be there for throughout these years. In areas I have faith or come short, please accept my apologies. In areas I have done well, all glory goes to God on that one. You will ALWAYS have someone to call who will unconditionally support and love you just as Christ loves the church. You will never be alone and you will consistently be covered in prayer. Thank you for being willing to be used by God to help heal my heart. I have confidence that you have everything you need to navigate the path that God has given to you because that same God has gone before you and established your eternity. Now be strong in the Lord. Proud of you all.
