The end of the school year is finally here and you’re probably feeling exhausted. Maybe you’ve even thought of giving up.
Think back for a minute to when you first got into college ministry. Do you remember the passion you had to reach the next generation? To change your university and capture it for Christ?
Maybe you felt like Joseph when he was young, passionate and dreaming wild dreams. But now a couple years have passed (maybe more) and you feel like Joseph when he was forgotten in prison. You feel like the dreams were just that – a dream – and it’s time to give up on them. Maybe you’re wondering if college ministry is even for you anymore.
May I suggest something quite different? A delayed dream isn’t a dead dream.
You see, if Joseph had given up on the dreams God gave him then all of Egypt and Israel would have died in the famine. Thousands of lives would have been lost. I’m sure Joseph was angry at God and filled with despair. I’m sure he was tempted to give up.
If you give up on the dreams God has given you for your campus thousands of lives could be lost.
Over the past couple months I’ve found that the best way to be recharged and refueled is to dream again. When I begin to dream with God I no longer have feelings of discouragement, despair, and hopelessness.
Usually I’m a pretty joyful person, but I recently went through a time of feeling incredibly discouraged even to the point of hopeless at times. I began to draw closer to God asking Him to pull me out of despair and show me even a glimpse of what the future held. He used that time to gently speak and remind me of the promises He’s spoken over my life.
As I began to abide in Him He started to fill my heart with dreams again. While my situation can’t begin to compare, I’m sure in some ways it’s similar to how Joseph felt when he was called before the king and eventually released from prison.
So, as the summer begins I hope I can encourage you to dream again. To remember the promises God has given you and the dreams He put in your heart when you first began in college ministry. To channel your inner Joseph and begin to dream God sized dreams again. Your campus and the student’s lives you impact will thank you one day.