Seasons: Summer — Thursday
Colossians 2:6-7
And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. (NLT)
I have a confession: I hate summer. Ever since high school, I’ve had an affinity for this season. I wouldn’t see my friends every day, I had to pick up random jobs to fill my time, not to mention every time I walked outside, it felt like I was cooking in an oven. When I was approached my sophomore year of college and asked to apply at a summer camp in Texas, I was skeptical, but I agreed to spend my entire summer serving on the media team in a state I had never been to with only knowing a handful of the 120-person staff.
I’ve heard people refer to summer camp as a pressure cooker. You have the opportunity to grow an exponential amount in just 3 months. I remember sitting in my end-of-summer evaluation and my supervisor looking at me and saying, “You’re not even the same person that you were just 5 weeks ago.” I was excited and proud of my growth and could not wait to share it with my family and friends back home.
When I got home that summer and reunited with my family, I sat at a restaurant and talked through 13 weeks of memories. As I started to unpack all of the things that happened, I saw it on my mother’s face. I had walked through a lot of hard stuff to experience growth. These stories of growth were marked by depression, anxiety, and conflict, but I wasn’t focused on those things. When I realized how much I had grown, I was grateful for all things that happened over those 13 weeks, and I was eager to apply those lessons back on my college campus.
Growth is painful. When you’re a kid, you have physical growing pains. When you're an adult, growth might look more like emotional pain. I believe that these growing pains are necessary to become strong, mature people of Christ. The Lord will heal the aches of growth as we continue to grow our roots down into Him.
Thursday’s Reflection
Paul tells the Colossians that they will overflow with thankfulness if they build their lives on Christ. Take a moment today to reflect on the hard things the Lord has brought you through, and thank Him for His kindness to rescue you out of the difficulties. If you are walking through something difficult now, thank the Lord for the truth that He will bring you through this trial.