On Saturday I leave for college. I mean, I’ll be back. Not like Jesus, of course, when he came back to life three days after he was killed or even how he is coming back. Not like ole Arnold either where he said, “I’ll be back,” and then came back and killed a bunch of terminators. And not like Michael Scott coming back for the wedding episode in the final season of The Office. No, it’ll probably just entail me coming back. Nothing crazy special like those three listed above. And that is one hundred present fine.
It’s always weird when I leave at first. It takes time to get used to the new things that I have to experience again. To the new elevation, to the new people I will come in contact with, to the new rules that my school has put in place (they have a rule where you can’t climb trees on campus which is crazy!), not having my family and friends around, and many other things. But that is how life is sometimes. It’s never always comfortable or easy. I mean look at half of the books in the Bible. Do you think they were comfortable? Do you think Moses wanted to be the spokesperson to God and to keep going to Pharaoh and telling him what to do? No, he had a speech impediment so talking for him probably made him feel uncomfortable. Exodus 3:11-12 says, “But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?’ He said, ‘But I will be with you…” He didn’t want to be chosen to go. He wanted to just stay and watch over his father-in-law’s flock and keep things normal. But God calls us to leave sometimes.
So why do I leave even when it’s going to make me uncomfortable for a while? Well, for one I was called. I don’t know if God specifically called me to this school, but he hasn’t made a whale ingest me for going there yet so I think it’s a good sign that I am in the right place. I leave because life is uncomfortable sometimes. Sometimes you have to leave your comfy bedroom and sleep on a much smaller and less comfortable bed in a room where your roommate sleep talks or sleepwalks. It’s a part of growing up too, to see if I can make it on my own. Well, I am never on my own since the Lord walks with me, but without my family, my church, and my friends. Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him, and he with me.” Every time I miss my friends and feel lonely, He is with me. Every time I have to endure the disgusting college food (EVERY SINGLE DAY), He is with me. No matter how I am feeling or what I am dealing with, He is with me.
Of course I am going to miss home, but I will be back soon. God moved at my school last year and I know he will move there again. I’m excited, scared, nervous, and joyful to what he has in store for me in this next season of uncomfortableness.
With Love, Intern Pastor Jc Pappan
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