As excited as you may be about then new college experience, there are probably some things you are missing about home right now. (home-cooked food, laundry, a private bathroom, etc.)
One thing that many college students don’t realize they would miss about home is the security of it. As tough as high school may have seemed at the time or as ready as you once were to leave home, those days may more and more seem like times when things were easy and safe.
Some students describe the transition to college as being the first time in their lives that they have genuinely been scared…. scared about the future, scared about the responsibility, scared about the unknowns. Some are even scared about their faith being challenged or whether or not they will royally screw up in their walk with Christ.
Let me offer you some good news about fear. So much about dealing with fear is perspective. Your point of view from which you view your circumstances makes all the difference.
Here is some truth:
1) If you are a little scared… know that you are not alone.
In fact, everywhere you walk today you will pass other students who are dealing with their own fears. Some may be really good at hiding it, but it is there.
2) Fear is a tool of Satan.
Satan knows that he cannot take the salvation from those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ. But he can do his best to steal their joy, their witness, their realization of God’s best for their lives. Fear often begins as a thought that can lead to intense emotions that can literally paralyze us. Fear cripples many college students and robs them of the abundant life that God intends for them, and provides for them through Christ.
3) The opposite of fear is faith.
While Satan wants us to live in fear, God wants us to live in faith. Throughout the Bible we see men and women who faced incredible circumstances and had to make a decision whether they would face them with fear or faith:
– David staring at Goliath
– Elijah, outnumbered 850 to 1 on Mt. Carmel
– Esther boldly approaching the King
– Moses standing in front of Pharaoh.
– Paul facing unimaginable hardships and persecution (and on and on)
Each had to make a choice based on truth that changed their perspective.
Paul’s perspective is no more clear than his words in Galatians 2:20,
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
You may be asking “How can Paul have this kind of faith?” Because he understood the object of his faith.
I heard Tony Evans share a story once of a businessman who had to travel to a small town for a meeting and invited his wife to come with him. His wife was excited about the trip until she learned her husband was going to be flown to the small town in a minuscule twin-engine plane. She told her husband that she decided not to go. “I’m not going on a little-bitty, twin-engine plane,” she told him. ” Her husband smiled, and said, “Honey, your faith is too small.” She responded, “No, the plane is too small.” He really wanted his wife to go, so the businessman canceled the small plane and booked tickets with a major airline for a larger plane. His wife went with him because, as she put it, “her faith grew because the size of the plane grew.”
The object of her faith determined how much faith she decided to have.
4) The object of your faith determines how much faith you have.
Don’t be scared to put yourself in situations for the sake of God’s glory, where God is your only answer.
My friend, Dr. Jay Strack says, “The bigger your God, the smaller your obstacles.”
So how can you move beyond fear and live in faith today?
By meditating on the bigness of God and the Truth of His Word.
The Bible says that faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. As you put your mind on the character of God and the good news of Jesus, you can view the obstacles you face today with perspective.
Romans 12:2, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
Overcoming fear begins in the mind. Meditate on God’s truth today. As you do, the lies of this world (the lies of Satan) will be exposed. As you focus on truth, you can walk in faith and confidence in the one who has a “good and pleasing and perfect” will for you.
And how awesome is it to know that the One who wants the best for you is the one who can do ANYTHING!
Today, find great joy and peace in abiding in the love of Christ and the truth that perfect love casts out fear! (1 John 4:18)
The 140:
This devotional is one in Sugar Hill Church’s First 30 devotional series for college students.
To access the entire series & podcasts be sure to check SHC’s site each day,
as new ones are added daily.
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