One thing that is unique about project that personally energizes and excites me is that all of the students here are from different backgrounds, have different stories, have been hurt and loved back to life in many different ways. Yet we come and are in fellowship, listen to the same stories, pray to God together and come away with individual growth. This can be a wonderful thing, but a lot of times, especially in college when everybody grows at their own pace, it can be hard to not compare seasons of life.
In a society where social media is such a highlight reel, we get caught in the trap of wanting to compare seasons, imitate others, or rush through the parts of life that are not our favorite. However, in a talk last week by Mike Parrett, he talked about how children imitate parents, the only thing we should imitate is God. If we look to him wide eyed and cheery, we won’t worry about what other people are doing or how we are viewed on earth. Imitating God is a beautiful sentiment because if we lived like Jesus we would fully care for everyone, be righteous and fair, and live with a generous and giving spirit. Mike talked about Romans 8:28 which says
“and we know that in all things God works together for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose”
saying that everyone is on their own journey and that is planned specifically for you by God. He continued to say some very profound things about how in every good thing there is sin because on earth, sin encompasses our lives and acts like a parasite to every aspect of it. One of the ways sin wrecks our calling is by making us feel that our calling is not as exciting, not as fulfilling, or as glamourous as others purpose God has planned for their life. This can be so detrimental and can not only affect us and our relationship with God, but also affect the people we are supposed to impact through our calling in life. Last week at project thanks to Mike’s words of wisdom we were able to address how sin is an intruder in our lives and how it acts like a parasite. This is a part of all our big problems in life. After all, recognizing the problem is the first step, right? The heart may be fickle with our feelings but God’s plan is good and constant!
Here at project we are having good conversations about how to recognize sin in our lives and to not let that stop us from God’s calling in our lives! We encourage those at home to think about how sin is affecting aspects of their life and pray for God to take control of that.