Succeeding Spiritually During the Summer – The Challenges

During the many years of working with college students, I’ve heard my share of stories from students who grew a ton while being a part of the college group during the school year, but then struggled to grow (or even maintain their walk with Christ) during the summer. I’ve also struggled in my own walk with Christ during the summer. I would start the summer with great intentions to read more (in the Bible and a list of spiritual growth books) and then find myself at the end of the summer, not having spent much time in my bible or reading at all. Which also usually meant I hadn’t spent much time personally talking with God other than as I went from one activity to the next or when I needed something.

I think there are 3 main challenges to growing spiritually during the summer:

1. Schedules Change – Road Trips abound!
As a college student regardless of whether you stay in town for the summer or head somewhere else, your daily schedule changes. You go from a schedule of classes to working a job most of the day (or multiple jobs!). Even if you take summer classes, those are longer. And many people take more road trips during the summer=more changes to the schedule of your days.

If you are a structured person this can be very challenging for you until you get into the new structure of your summer schedule, which usually takes a few weeks. For those who take summer classes, your schedule changes again in a few more weeks because of different summer sessions.

If you are not much of a structured person (like me), I think summer can be challenging spiritually as well because days are longer and it seems like there is a lot more to do (at least outside!) in the summer. People stay up longer and out later and it feels like there will always be time later to fit everything in. I’m a person who doesn’t want to miss out on anything and usually if I live my life that way – trying to fit everything in – the thing that often falls out of the schedule is my own personal time with the Lord. Or I end up trying to do it late at night before I go to bed or early in the morning after going to bed late. Either way, I usually end up falling asleep during my time with the Lord.

2. Old Friends, Old Habits This can be especially challenging for those heading home for the summer. Many students have changed significantly over a school year. They have left behind old habits or struggles and been able to walk in victory. But they get home to find the temptation to their old life feels stronger. Their friends at home may not know Christ (or want to know Him) and they have not changed. Or worse yet, they had friends who knew Christ before they went to college and during the school year, they began to live in a way that is not following closely after Jesus. Some students also go home to families who do not know Christ (or want to know Him), so they end up in a place without much accountability or encouragement to pursue Jesus. It can be quite a shock if you have lived your life in a vibrant community of Christ followers for 9 months and now find yourself alone or almost alone as a follower of Jesus.

3. Spiritual Offerings Change
If you head home for the summer, you may not have a church or group you can attend or maybe it just doesn’t feed or encourage you the way college worship hour or your small group does. Even those who stay in town can struggle for this reason. College Worship Hour & Real Time stop meeting and the Summer Gathering and Summer Studies start up. Let’s face it, most of us are creatures of habit and when we find things (habits, groups of people) we like, we don’t like it when those things change or aren’t quite the same. It can feel at times like you are starting over making a new group of friends, getting to know new people.

Most likely you can find one or more of these to be true for your life and if all three of these happen to combine in your summer, it can be quite challenging. What do you think? Are you finding any of these things true for you this summer? If so, how are you seeking to overcome these challenges? In my next post, I’ll talk about some of the things that can help us Succeed Spiritually During the Summer.

Keep Seeking Jesus…Matt