The struggle is real
How students facing hardship can find hope in Christian community
July 01, 2019
- Anna RosenthalCollege at a small, residential school in the South is an experience that can live
up to all the hype: days filled with your friends, studying subjects you are passionate
about, new friendships, figuring out who you are and who you want to be. It can also
be filled with hard seasons that don’t make it on the promo card.
As wonderful as the college experience can be, it also can be filled with unexpected
hardship. Some days are marked by loneliness and despair. Ouachita seeks to be a campus
that cares about the whole person, which includes helping students prepare for the
hard days that come in life.
“Everyone has bad days,” said one of our campus ministry leaders in a brainstorm meeting.
This simple statement struck me because I knew this student was not exempt from the
hardship of life. Our meeting had gone off on one of those rabbit trail conversations
that you could sense was leading to something meaningful. We were working on curriculum
for our Life Groups for the fall semester on the topic of wisdom found in Scripture.
We were discussing how often, in Christian cultures, if someone is experiencing hardship,
they feel like they have done something wrong. But instead, we should acknowledge
that we live in a world filled with bad days. God is not unaware of our suffering.
In the book Fabric of Faithfulness, Steven Garber argued that those who kept the faith years after college experienced
some common elements during their college years. One element is that these students
encountered believers who had a worldview big enough for the challenges and suffering
of our current world. They didn’t shy away from hard realities with cliché answers
but instead allowed God to be God in a broken world. Garber also highlighted that
it was important for the friends they made in college to encompass that worldview
and strengthen one another through suffering. In other words, they were surrounded
by a community of people who were not perfect at following God, yet who were allowing
their life to be filled with truth and the hope that comes through Christ.
One part of growth in college comes with the theology of God’s big story, a story
that offers us a meaningful life that is filled with God as the author and main character.
In a chapel address to students last year, I reflected:
Don’t underestimate the difficulty you may face after college. You put into action
what you are preparing for now. You decide important things – about calling and career,
future relationships, where you want to live, how you want to spend your free time
– not to mention all the unexpected things that will come your way.
On the other hand, don’t underestimate the incredible power of God, the author of
your story, a story that is part of a larger narrative. This story is centered on
God who is worthy of our worship. Proverbs 16:9 was a key verse for me throughout
a season full of unknowns: “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD
establishes their steps.”
We pray that your years as a Ouachita student are filled with the power of Jesus,
who cares about your pain and knows your suffering. Our prayer in Campus Ministries
is that Ouachita will be a place where you find a community that embraces a life full
of the hope we find in Christ.
By Anna Rosenthal, a 2015 graduate who serves as assistant director of Campus Ministries.
You Also Might Like
Recent
