Stuck in Colder Weather

Last year, I wrote a short post on my Facebook page highlighting the intensity of finals week for a college student. I have literally seen college students crack underneath the pressures of finals week; mental and physical breakdowns that leave them emotionally crushed and incapacitated. Thankfully, finals week has come and gone and Christmas break has passed. What awaits college students returning to campus? Cold weather.

I think of the song "Colder Weather" by the Zac Brown Band and the lyrics, "Stuck in colder weather, maybe tomorrow will be better..." For a lot of college students, tomorrow will not be better. It will remain emotionally, mentally, and spiritually cold. Many students I encounter do not have the emotional, mental, and spiritual support necessary to survive, let alone thrive, through the pressures of college. As a result, they experience an on-going finals week experience; they are constantly over-whelmed and "cold."

My buddy, Kris Billiter, recently preached a sermon based on Matthew 9; the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Kris' words reminded me that the college campus is a field full of hurting college students who are stuck in "cold weather." Jesus calls us to go and harvest the fields of campus. How? Mentor a student, take a student out to dinner, allow them to use your washer and dryer, lead them in a Bible Study, share Jesus with them. Take the time to listen and care.

The many college students on our campus do not have to be “stuck in colder weather” this semester. Jesus is the light of the world. Light provides heat. Go be Jesus to a college student this week and warm up their “cold” life.

(This post originally appeared last year on the uoflbcm.org blog.)