Grounded

Grounded. This word conjures up many images in my mind. Including one where I am sitting at home on a Friday night during high school because I have been “grounded” for disobeying my parents. This is not the type of grounding that we are talking about here as the theme for this new website and college ministry. The grounding that we are talking about is being grounded in the love of God and in His Word, the Bible. Our prayer for you comes from Ephesians 3:17-19. They say, “So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and GROUNDED in LOVE, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the LOVE of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” May this grounding cause us to serve the Lord with both joy and gladness.

Many of you, I am assuming, have grown up in a Christian home and have been grounded in the Word of God. You know that He loves you and now think that everything is great. You are off in college and doing the things that you have always wanted to do. You are involved in extra-curricular activities, taking classes you enjoy, and hanging out with people of the opposite sex. Woohoo! Big whoop, if it means that you have walked away from your grounding in God’s Word and the love of God and your faith and confidence in Him, then something is wrong. Those activities mean nothing if they are causing you to sin and you have strayed from God. Come back to that grounding. That faith that was given to you by God. Come back to it. Turn from your wicked ways and come back to Christ and seek Him first again.

There are those of you though who have not turned away from Christ and are still seeking Him. Many are like Timothy who have been given a gift and are struggling with timidity and fear. You’re not quite sure how to go about doing what God has called you to do. My encouragement to you comes from II Timothy 2:5-7. They say, “For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and you mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well (sounds like a good AFLC family). For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.” Fear has become your guide and you have forgotten what God has given to you. This is Paul speaking to Timothy, his young apprentice in the faith, who has become like a son to him. These verses have been an encouragement to me and I know that they can be to you as well. Do not think that God cannot use you because you are young. Paul also encourages Timothy to not let anyone look down on Him because he is young. He had been given a gift and a responsibility to use that gift by God and no one but God ought to tell him when to quit doing what he had been called to do. Again Paul encourages Timothy to “continue in the things you have learned and been convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” I think that many Christians struggle in their and faith, wondering what God has called them to do and what gifts He has given to them. If that is the case for you then begin to seek God about this and get involved when and where He gives you the opportunity. Growth often comes through much trial and error; so if you can’t find your place quickly do not lose heart because He must have some work to do in you as He guides you to the place He wants you to go. We cannot live our lives in fear, for fear gives Satan an opportunity to come and place doubts and disappointment in our lives causing us to live in an ineffective manner. Be confident in Christ and the Word which he has given to you. You have been given a gift by growing up
grounded in the Christian faith and in God’s Word to us. Do not be afraid to go forth and do the things that God has called you to do. This is a quote that has encouraged me time and time again in the past couple of years and I pray it will encourage you as well. I am not sure where it came from but I think that I read it in a book somewhere.

"We must never underestimate the potential of youth. Throughout history God has called young men and women to rise up and change their world through the power of the Gospel."

Go forth and serve God with everything that you have, guided by the Holy Spirit; grounded in the love of God, knowing that He will never leave you nor forsake you.

by Justin Kantonen
originally posted January 2008