As I sit at my desk at the end of another academic year I kind of wonder where the school year went. It feels like yesterday I just moved into my apartment in the fall. Now campus has emptied and gotten quieter and the seniors graduate while the hopes of a new beginning await many incoming freshmen. These freshmen have no idea what’s going to happen to them when they go to college. People change when they set foot into a dorm, they change when they try to fit into a new crowd, and they change when they aren’t being closely watched by their parents. At the same time life changes. You become more responsible for your own life as you now have to make big decisions. When I entered college I remember going through all of that. It wasn’t easy and sometimes you wish you could go back to the old times but there’s one thing I would never want to go back to: my old life. What do I mean by that? My life before Christ and who I was.
See, I went under a huge change but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I made it through my first three years at college by the grace of God alone. I have met extraordinary and interesting people. I have done things (good things) so far out of my comfort zone. This was all possible because Jesus set up His church here on earth to show who He is to the world. I became who I am because people took me under their wings and cared about me. Those new freshmen coming in… they need the same chance. They deserve the same chance. I know there was so much more I could have done this past year… I’m inherently lazy when it comes to certain things and I don’t like that at all. There was a huge opportunity to spread God’s fame in my dorm this year. Things never lined up and I never got enough support from any peers to motivate me to act. But that cannot happen next year… my last year as an actual college student. I am going to be honest: I have big dreams about what God is going to do next year and I think that is fair considering God is unimaginably huge.
So why do I share this with all of you? I feel like I’m not the only one who felt this way during this school year. You wanted to achieve more and you wanted to spread the Gospel. You know its really stinking hard to bring up a conversation on it and you know that the root of that is your pride. If you felt like that this past year and you want to make an impact on this campus next year for God’s glory then I dare you to pray this with me: “God, thank you for this school year and all the hearts you brought to you. As Psalm 3 says: ‘I wake again because the Lord sustains me’ I realize that you did sustain me through this tough but character-building school year. You still used this year for your glory. God I pray that you use me to spread your Name throughout this campus next year. I surrender to you and I want to be an instrument for your Kingdom. May you be on the minds of the students here and not alcohol, careers, fame, or whatever separates us from you. God, I don’t care where you take me and how far you stretch me but please help me not waste another moment on this campus.”
This post comes from an external blog run by Nick Geisen at: changeourhearts.wordpress.com
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