College is messy. It's a time of experience, of discovery, of finding path. It's a time of exposure to everything new; to finding out what kind of a person you want to be on your own. As Christians, we go through periods of trust and doubt with the Lord. Times when we can trust God with everything, and times when we have no idea what he is doing within our lives. At some point of our years in college, we will feel uncertain about the future, tempted by the people around us, self-absorbed by seeking only what's best for ourselves, and judgmental of the ways others live their lives. However, we will always feel called to serve the Lord and to share the love of Christ.

1. Uncertainty

God will call you to where you’re supposed to be, to your purpose. But what does that mean? Everyone is making a life plan of what to take to graduate and where to work after graduation, but you have no idea what major is right for you. While others are worried about high-paid jobs, you are worried about fulfilling God's purpose for you. Not worrying is the first step to fulfilling his purpose, however it is the hardest. We don’t need to worry about the choices we make being correct because God will always work out his purpose. Whatever choices we make, God will use them to be his perfect will. There is not one path to his purpose, but every path leads there. He will call us into situations that are uncomfortable and won't always feel like it's where we are supposed to be. He will use these situations to help you grow and find your faith, fulfilling his good work through you.

All a person's ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighted by the Lord. Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. The Lord works out everything to its proper end- even the wicked for a day of disaster. Proverbs 16: 2-4

2. Temptation

This is our first time living on our own, deciding what to do on our own time, and choosing who we want to be friends with. We are exposed to everything and anything. This new freedom we have opens the gates for temptation. We are vulnerable and exposed to things that do not glorify God. There are many more than the three common college temptations- drugs, sex, and alcohol- that go unnoticed to us. We are surrounded by people who don't share the same values as us, and it is common to get caught up selfish friendships. We worry about our appearance, our actions, and our personality when trying to become friends with others. We want others to accept us so we are tempted to conform to what other people want instead of what God wants from us. We even worry about how Christian we look by if we are wearing our Chacos and Patagonia today, not by our actions of loving others. We are tempted to change ourselves for people who are living for themselves instead of the Lord. We need to surround ourselves with people who are living for God and striving to follow his plan so we don't get stuck in the selfishness of the world.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2

3. Selfish

College is the time of our lives that we are told its okay to be selfish. We hear that we should be doing whatever is right for us, that it is our time to figure out what we want to do. We always talk about how broke we are because we have to limit what we spend on. God calls us to give whatever we have to Him, to those in need, to our friends, to our family. There is a limit on how much time, money, and energy we will spend on giving. We think we are excused from giving to others because we don't have the money to give up, enough time because we have 3 exams this week, or enough energy because of the lack of sleep we get. We think these 4 years are for ourselves. However, this period of uncertainty and vulnerability is when God is going to use us the most and show us his beautiful works. We need to ask, "what is needed?" and not "how much do I have to give?" One of the most important things we can do is give our time to God over anything. Giving up your time to spend honoring Him through having quiet time, going to church, getting involved in a bible study, taking time away from talking about yourself to others and instead talk about Him. Praise Him through school work by being thankful for having the opportunity to expand your knowledge at a university. Be thankful that some of your biggest worries are about tests and GPA, and praise Him for providing you with the resources to learn.

Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Luke 14:12–14

4. Judgmental

We are sinful, it's inevitable. We will look at other people’s lives and judge them for their beliefs, their actions, and their appearances. Jesus accepted everyone. He used those who were marginalized to spread His word. He went to the ones who were broken, unaccepted, excluded from the community to give His grace and love to. In John 4:1-42, Jesus approaches a Samaritan woman who was removed from the community for her sinful actions. Culturally, Jesus should not have been talking or even looking at her, however he offers her "living water" of eternal life instead of judging her for her mistakes. He declares to his women "I, the one speaking to you- I am he" (John 4:26). He announces his first "I am" statement to a woman who is worthless in the eyes of the community. Jesus didn't need the attention of a public announcement to declare He is the One, he uses broken people to spread his Word. He is there for everyone; nothing is ever bad enough for God not to save you from your sin. We are called to follow Jesus, to accept others, and to show God's grace through our love for others. We cannot judge those who are caught in sin while we are broken in sin ourselves. We condemn those who don't act "Christian" enough for us instead of showing them the mercy and unconditional love of Christ. We are called to open the door to Christ for people, to become part of someone's salvation story.

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” John 4:1-42

5. Called

We all know how God calls us to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). But it is extremely hard to do that. Sometimes we don't even feel good enough to be "disciples," so how are we supposed to make other disciples? We struggle to trust God with everything, to give up everything for him. We want to follow Jesus but it's hard to know exactly what that looks like. For Jesus' first disciples, it was giving up their entire lives to walk with Jesus. In Luke 5:1-11, Jesus saw fishermen in two boats and went to join them. He told them where to cast the nets to catch the most fish, but they didn't believe him because they have been casting there with no luck all day. When their nets were overflowing in abundance of fish, they were astonished, even scared, at this man named Jesus. However, they left behind everything they had that day and followed him.

Jesus said to Simon, “Don't be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” So they pulled their boat up on shore, left everything and followed him. Luke 5:10-11

We may not think we are strong enough to give everything up to God. We may not think we have in us what it takes to spread the word of the Lord and "make disciples of all nations," but we don't have to be. God will come to us personally and give us the strength needed. He will speak his word through us. He went to the fisherman, got inside their boat, and spoke to them a language that they would understand. He compared catching fish to bringing people to know the Lord for the men to understand. God will come to us, provide for us, and give us courage. For it is not what we say to others that will make them believe in Jesus, but it is Christ speaking through us.

We no longer believe because of what you said, now we have heard for ourselves and we know this man is the savior of the world. John 4:42

We can open the doors to Christ for people, but they need to hear it themselves from God.