HOPE and ENDURANCE.

The world today is a far different one than what I grew up in.
When I was in college, in order to look up anything, I would go to the library and ask for periodicals to find research, or go to one of the many encyclopedias that were available.
I wonder today, if people in their 20's, or 30's and even those in their 40's have ever heard of periodicals of literature?
Today if you have a question, you just ask Siri or look it up on your phone or whatever device you are using at that moment.
The technology advances we have today are incredible. I am so mystified at what is available with our fingertips.

Yet I wonder if it is all good. Have we lost the art of communicating? How easy it is to text or snap chat or tell your Instagram story. But do we talk-really talk to people? In surveys conducted, it is known that the generations of Millennials and now Gen X'ers would rather talk via text than on the phone or in person.
For the older generations, we can get puzzled by that. So often in texts or emails what we mean to convey is misconstrued by the receiver. Words are misunderstood, and too often what was meant to be said, is now completely read in a different way.

But I digress. My job as Coordinator of Prayer and Resources for Young Life College/University has me praying for our Young Life College staff, that they would become men and women who radiate Jesus to the college students they befriend and the world around them. That by their very lives, they would convey a person who is quite different from others. I pray that they would seek Jesus throughout their days and that they would be the ones who welcome others regardless of their views on life, their religion, their sexual orientation, their politics etc. I pray daily for our staff and consider it a privilege.
I also as the Resource person, read quite a bit, so that I can recommend books to our staff on all types of subjects. (YL website under leader tools, YLC and Build). The more I read, the more I realize that there are many different sides on many different subjects. Which causes me to return again and again to the premise that in our discipling or mentoring, we need to go to the Bible first and foremost.

Romans 15:4 states:
     "For everything was written in the past was written to 
      teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the 
      Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might
      have hope."

In Young Life, we believe that the Scriptures (the Word of God) are paramount to our faith. The words found in the Bible are the inspired words of God. (2 Timothy 3:16). They are TRUTH. So we, those of us in leadership positions must teach God's truth. In order to teach the truth of God from His Word, we too must be reading the Bible on a consistent (hopefully daily) basis. Seeking to know more of God, more of His pursuit of us, more of His love and grace to us, and more of His instructions and commands to us. Because as Romans 15:4 states, the Word of God was written so that in times of trial and testings, the times of doubt or sorrow, we might be encouraged and find the hope that we desperately need.
But what if we don't know the Word? How then can we encourage others to endure through the hard times? We must be in the Bible for it truly gives us the HOPE of JESUS. The hope that we are not alone, the hope that we will endure, the hope that only can come through Jesus Christ.
The Bible is not just some men's different opinions about God, the Bible is the inspired word of God. All of it, not just the parts we like; the Bible is not a smorgasbord where we get to take and choose what we want to believe.  It is all truth-every single word that is written. That is why we, as the leaders of Young Life College must be diligent in pursuing God's truth. Our college friends believe what they read and what others tell them. Everything they look up on the internet is truth to them. And not everything is.
I believe that we need to be spending time with them in God's truth, either directly talking about what we are reading or doing a bible study that is written by a trusted source. We need to be encouraging them to view the Bible as one of the major resources in their lives, because God will never misdirect them. And obviously we need to remind ourselves of this.
Again and again, I will always stress the importance of God's word. I read Psalm 119 a few times in the year to remind myself of what God says about His Word. This entire psalm is about the significance and importance that God puts on His Word. Maybe it is time for all of us to read it today.

NOTE: Although this was intended for YLC/YLU university staff, it is for all of us.