FINALLY. The semester is over, we can breathe, and we’re away from all things that give us stress.

Or are we?

Throughout the semester, we studied the life of David through the writings of Samuel. We heard the good, bad, and ugly – stories of developing valuable friendships, giving in to temptations, and covering up mistakes with lies and desperate attempts to save face.

We tend to go through life thinking that if we just pass this one thing, everything else will be smooth sailing. Just reach the next checkpoint, the next difficult task. Or if we can cover up that one thing, all will be fine! But this isn’t how life works. We are guaranteed to face more and more challenges and consequences for our actions until we leave Earth.

But this shouldn’t be discouraging.

This would be discouraging if we didn’t have a Savior. But since Jesus has given himself to each of us as a gift, we are armed with more than we could ever ask for. Consider this: we cannot hide from our problems, as much as we think we can. God lays things on our hearts that we never expect him to. We cannot grow without addressing things that we struggle with. David learned this the hard way when he tried to cover up his adultery by getting Uriah to come home and sleep with his wife so it would seem that Bathsheba’s pregnancy was because of her husband, Uriah.

David gets through his life by being vulnerable and singing God’s praises.

Psalm 34 – I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.

On surface level, this Psalm may seem (among others) that it was exclaimed when everything was going well. David’s life was broken, just like all of ours, but if we are real with ourselves and our Savior, we have all the tools we need to embrace our failures instead of hiding from them.

Another important thing to remember is that being vulnerable does not just involve being real with those around you – it involves being real with yourself, too. As said in Lamentations 3:40, “Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord!”

David’s struggle was raw and his story was human. He was nowhere near perfect, as none of us are expected to be. The most stimulating part of David’s story was not the list of his wrongdoings, but his reliance on God in all situations. This is how we show resilience. Consider the role Jesus can play in your lives as you reflect on your semester and go into the new year, embracing your own humanity and loving others fully as a direct result. Here’s to a refreshing start to 2018 with Jesus right by our sides.

Haley Welch, Impact Student President

I’ve spent my whole life in the church. My Dad was a youth volunteer at our church, so I spent every Saturday and Sunday there. Serving was something that I felt was just expected of me. I volunteered with the preschool ministry and various church events during the week. However, I never really knew why Jesus calls us, as His followers, to serve others. It wasn’t until I became involved with some youth ministries again in college that I began to see the importance of service.

To understand why service is important for us as believers, I think we need to look at what God’s view on service is. And what better way than to look at how Jesus lived while He was here on earth. Jesus came here to serve us. The whole purpose of Him coming to earth in human form was to die for all of our sins.

Philippians 2 says:

5 In your relationships with one another,
have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God
did not consider equality with God
something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

This is the ultimate form of service.
He laid down His life for us. How awesome is this?

Mark 10:45 reads, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” How then, as followers of Christ, should we serve others? In saying that Jesus did not come to be served, this shows what our mindset should be! He wasn’t in the mindset of coming here to be served as Mark says; even though He deserves to be served more than anyone or anything. But instead, He came here to serve. I think for us, serving is more of a mindset than just action. It’s humbling yourself before God and others; putting others’ lives and needs before your own. This definitely does not come naturally; it’s more natural for us to put our own needs first and to serve ourselves. Therefore, we have to actively choose to serve others every day.

On Wednesday, September 21st, we had our service night for Impact. We went to West Park Christian Church, just 5 minutes from campus. Each Wednesday, they pick up a ton of kids from the neighborhood and bring them back to the church to feed them and show them the love of Jesus. I am a social work major, and I am currently completing an internship at an elementary school near West Park Christian Church. Going into the service night, I was hoping to see some of the kids I work with. And God awed me completely. I saw a lot of kids that I see each day in my internship. Because of this, I was able to form stronger relationships with some of the kids I work with every day. At a school you can’t exactly talk about Jesus with the students. But, God had this all planned out: that I would intern at a school that serves the same community as the church that Impact partners with. He provided a way that I can share Him with them. Now, when they see Miss Meaghan at school, they can ask me more things about who God is. And I am so incredibly humbled to have an opportunity to show them that; that God would choose me to serve Him in that way.

Serving children in various ministries like West Park and E-Club at Horizon Central has taught me more in my life than anything else. It is so difficult to explain the genuineness of a child’s love; there aren’t enough words to describe it. If you’ve worked with kids, then you definitely know what I’m talking about. They just love you no matter what. They don’t care what you wear, if you have makeup on, what you look like, if you’re successful, nothing. They just want to love you, and be loved by you. This has shown me the closest thing to unconditional love besides God’s love for us.

Because of this, I have begun to see why serving others is important. I used to think I was doing others a favor by serving them (and of course we are helping others when we give our time and energy to serve them). However, God has actually taught me through serving kids. He’s taught me things like I need to humble myself daily. That I need to serve even when I don’t feel like it. That I need to be putting others’ needs before my own. God has shaped and continues to shape my character through this service, so that I become more like Him. God has used service to show me more of Him and to direct my steps to follow Him more closely.

Ultimately, serving others is serving Jesus. In Matthew 25: 35-40, Jesus says that whatever we do for others, we do for Him. In the end, serving others is all for God’s glory. Don’t be afraid to serve others in a way that’s new or makes you feel uncomfortable. God calls us to step out in faith and be obedient to Him. Remember why we are called to serve. Remember what Jesus did for you. Remember what He calls us to do. So go out; be bold; serve others.

God will teach you things you never thought you needed to learn.

Meaghan Couch, VP of Service, Impact Christian Fellowship at IUPUI