CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY WISCONSIN COUNSELING SERVICES

Changes

   
            We can’t keep up with all the changes.  Your new computer already needs an upgrade.  Your favorite CDs will someday be out of date.  Looking at your photo album seems like it must be ancient history.  The clothes you wore in high school seem foreign.  The way we listen to music, watch movies, and view television has changed since we were younger.  And it won’t stop.  Changes happen throughout life.  College only seems to speed up the process.  Familiar habits and life patterns are always needing to adjust.  You live one life at home, with your family, and another life at school.  The privacy of your room and the familiar routines of your life are disrupted by dorm life, where you share a small room with a stranger and a bathroom with 20 others!  Your roommates are new friends won’t wash your clothes, supply all your favorite snacks, or let you borrow the car whenever you need it.  But neither do they have as many rules as your parents do, either!

     The change must be interesting to watch from God’s point of view.  How incredible that He could keep track of every change.  Even more amazing is that He keeps track of every one of His people.  He knows you, the changes surrounding you, and the changes going on in your life.  And when we think that everything is in a swirl, He is the solid rock and changeless One in whom we trust.  He has seen every kind of change before, and He continues to be the one we need most.

     He understands, because years ago God became flesh and lived as a human being.  What a change!  After living nearly 30 years at home, Jesus struck out on His own.  His assignment was greater than any Math or English project.  He had three years to complete His task and save the world.  He would be questioned and tested continually through those years.  He would be loved by some and hated by others.  He would learn, He would teach—as many as 5,000 people at once.  His 12 roommates and lab partners would live, walk, and eat together.  Sometimes there was tension.  Sometimes there was misunderstanding.  He always forgave; He always listened.  He told stories about life and faith, and explained the mysteries of
God.   He had to be alone sometimes and call on His Father for strength.  He enjoyed the companionship of His closest friends.

     In the midst of change, we need a time and a place to be at home, to rest, and to reflect on life.  God provides rest in His forgiveness and precious promises.  Jesus  knows what it’s like to live with change.  On Palm Sunday He entered Jerusalem surrounded by crowds of cheering, praising people.  By the end of the week others would scream “Crucify Him!”  He lived in a changing world.  He dealt with a changing crowd.  He remained the changeless Christ.  Jesus has brought into our lives the greatest changes the world has ever seen.  In Him we are changed to be the people of God.  He changes our sinful record and declares us clean and forgiven.  He empowers us to live for Him.

     As your world changes at a rapid pace, know that Jesus will understand and restore stability to life.  He will comfort, provide rest, and grant wisdom to deal with changes appropriately.  He guides us to do His will.  As you prepare for this year of school, uncertain of the changes that lie ahead, know that the changeless Christ goes with you, stays within your heart, and provides the stability of His forgiveness, hope, love, joy, and peace.  His love will not change.

Belonging

            One of the basic human needs is to belong.  We feel like we belong at home, at church, with friends, with our friends—but all that may easily change when we go off to a new school, or even return after a summer away.  Just because we attend classes somewhere doesn’t mean we “belong” there.  Many students don’t get into a dorm of their choice, and may only know friends of friends.  Whether you’re at a large or small school, you need a place to belong.

     As you seek a place to belong, it may involve choices about who to hang out with, how much to study, where to eat, and where to worship.  In the beginning of the world, Adam wondered who he would hang out with, because there was “no suitable helper” (Genesis 2:20) to keep him company.  God responded by creating Eve.  After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, God banished them from the Garden of Eden.  Then they really felt like they didn’t belong to God.  Yet God in love made a promise that the Messiah would restore the relationship with Him.  Years later God called Abraham to leave behind everything that gave him belonging.  He left his house and home, family, language, and culture; but God filled that need and assured Abraham that he belonged to God as His own child.  God takes care of His children.  God promised to protect Abraham and bless Him for life and for eternity, and He kept that promise.  God has a history of being there for people who felt like they didn’t belong.

     The promises God made to Adam and Abraham still stand.  Through Jesus’ death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, Adam, Abraham, and each believer belongs to God.  God, who brought you into His family through Jesus Christ, will take care of you and bless you even when you feel alone and away from your roots.  There may be temptations to do things or try things that are wrong, just so you can belong to a group, or fit in.  God’s promise assures us that we don’t need to compromise to belong.  Galatians 3:29 reminds us, “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

     Even when we leave behind so many things that we love, we still belong.  We form new friendships in class, at the campus chapel, and in the dorm.  We appreciate places where we still belong, like home and church.  Even when God feels far away, or when life or friends disappointed us, deep down we know that in Jesus we still belong.  God says in Hebrews 13:5, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”  God promises to be with us at all times because we truly belong with Him.

I'll Manage

            The alarm is such a pest, sometimes!  Just when you’re sound asleep dreaming that perfect dream, with just the right people, in just the right place . . .BEEP! . . .BEEP! . . .BEEP! . . .your alarm goes off!  Eyes still closed, you reach for the bedside table, slapping for the snooze button . . .hoping to get a happy ending.  BEEP! . . .BEEP!. . .BEEP!  Your mind and your body both resist the call, and the bed feels so safe and comfortable.  Again the alarm sounds:  BEEP! . . . BEEP! . . .BEEP! and you give in to its harsh call.  You admit that it serves a good purpose, and place your feet on the floor, bidding your dream world good-bye as you welcome the reality of today.

     An alarm clock is one of many helpful things that keep our world orderly and operational.  Alarms help us to stay on track with our goals and objectives for life.  We may not like to be responsible all the time, but life management is an important tactic for survival on our own.

     College and university life is filled with requirements.  Project completion dates, paper deadlines, and scheduled exams all have a way of keeping us on track academically.  Our daily planner may be one of our best treasures.  Friends, roommates, and other significant people help sound an alarm if our social life is too sedate or too active.  Parents, our adviser, and future employers remind us of their desires and expectations.

       It is easy to get involved in lots of things … and easy to get overinvolved.  Too many commitments may become too much to handle.  We want our independence, but may feel overwhelmed by the responsibility of saying yes and being held accountable.  Mom and Dad aren’t so close by to bail us out.  Throughout life we will struggle to find a balance between independence and dependence.  We want to be on our own, but also yearn for someone to handle life for us, even if only for a little while.

     That Someone is closer than you may think.  God, who placed the stars in the heavens and the planets in their orbits, recognized the hopeless plight of His fallen creation.  He chose to restore order to our world once again by sending Jesus as our Savior.  When the time was just right, He sent Jesus in human flesh to keep the righteous demands of His Law, while bearing the burden of sin He didn’t commit!  All for you!  In a restored relationship with Him, our world becomes a place ordered by God’s guidelines but motivated by His forgiving love and care.

     Although God oversees all creation, He is also intimately concerned with the minute details of your life.  He offers order and peace to life.  He draws our focus to the importance of our relationship with Him!  No matter how out-of-control your world might seem, God says:  “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name, you are mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you:… When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; … Do not be afraid, for I am with you” (Isaiah 43 1-3,5).  The God who forgives us and claims us as His own says, “Relax, I am in control!” (See Matthew 6:25-34; Romans 8:28; Isaiah 26:3).  He is with us in class, in our relationships, in our job, and in our family, and throughout our future.  He helps us prioritize our world, with Himself in the first place.  From that starting point, many other things fall into order.  What a promise!

Life's Purpose

          My professor was discussing a theory that at one time an atmosphere of water may have surrounded the earth.  I simply said, “That sounds like the biblical story of Noah’s Ark, where it tells how God broke the atmosphere above and brought water upon the earth.”  A girl looked at me and asked, “What is Noah’s Ark?”  I was shocked!  I quickly explained, before the professor could continue with his lecture.  I now wish I had caught up to her after class and told her more about God and His creation and preservation of the world.  I wasn’t very brave back then.

     I was afraid to speak out, unsure of what to say.  I thought my job was to learn and study … not to share my faith.  I didn’t even try to share.  Now I wish I had.  Now I know that my purpose is to praise God and reflect His love, to share His forgivemenss through Jesus Christ.  I’ve also learned how God provides us with the wisdom and power to live a Christian lifestyle and share our faith!

     We are ambassadors for Christ wherever we go … on campus, in the dorm, at lunch.  Part of our purpose on campus is to explore and discover ways to survive in this world.  But there’s more to the Christian life than survival.  2 Corinthians 5:20 states, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as thought God were making His appeal through us.  We implore you on Christ’s behalf:  Be reconciled to God.”  Knowing all that Christ has done for us, we want to live for Him and spread the Gospel.  God will provide the wisdom and power to live a Christian lifestyle.

     This commitment does not come easy.  College will test the faith.  You will establish patterns and practice many things for the future.  Christianity should remain part of who you are, because of  whose you are in Christ through faith.  Living a Christian lifestyle offers blessings from God.  Jeremiah 29:11 says, “ ‘ For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’.”  God plans to use you in His work!  He promises to take any situation and turn it into something good.   We can do all things only through Christ who strengthens us.  God is able to do abundantly more than all we ask for or imagine.  God makes His appeal through us to others, so that we can become joyful, effective ambassadors for Him.  We don’t have to be at church to serve Him.  We don’t have to wait until we graduate, either.  We are His, and can serve Him here and now.