Back to Reality

By: Audrey Adams

 

Ah, the church camp high. If you’ve grown up going to church camps, you know what I mean when I say this. Spending a week with your closest friends, being completely engulfed in God, you are anew. You are refreshed. You are whole again. It is the greatest feeling in the world—to go back into reality and feel as if you can conquer anything. You experience a spiritual high, and nothing can distract nor separate you from living completely and wholly for God.

Until that high fades.

Until you go back to your secular desk-job.

Until you stay up all night studying for an exam.

Until you remember the unpaid bills you have stacked on your kitchen table.

Reality has hit again, and this time, it seems harder to overcome.

After your church camp and conference-booked summer, you had higher hopes. You had hoped that this time, it would be different. But the distractions are still ever-present.

This is a feeling we know all too well. So how do we combat it? How can we maintain our spiritual high as we settle back into our everyday lives?

 

If you’re like me, you may often feel as though the work you do outside of the church cannot possibly be furthering the Kingdom of God. You may question how studying for biology contributes to the Kingdom. You may doubt how your 10-hour/day factory job contributes to the Kingdom.

But, despite your doubts, God is there. God is not only present at church camps. God is not only present in your sanctuary. God can be found everywhere. All the time. God can be present in your biology class. God can be present on your assembly line. God can be present in your office. God not only can be found in those places, but God is in those places. No matter what your everyday lives consist of—whether it’s going to college or welding or cutting hair or teaching, God is there, God is within you, and others are capable of seeing God in you.

Though it seems to be easier to see God in your church or at church camps and conferences, God is still present outside of those atmospheres and in your everyday lives. We can elongate our spiritual highs by actively seeking God outside of church and outside of church camps. We can find peace outside of those moments. However, we must remember that faith is active. It’s not easy, but being a Christian isn’t supposed to be easy. It takes motivation and perseverance and accountability. It takes prayer and faith and love.

As the summer comes to an end and we enter back into our routines, let us remember to seek God in all places. Let us remember to be active in our faith. Let us remember to love our classmates and our coworkers as we love our fellow campers and peers during summertime camps and conferences. Let us remember to be the hands and feet of God in all that we do.