Jesus is Better

This coming weekend is my third Girls Retreat. That means that for the next five days I will eat, breathe and sleep all things retreat. Since it is my third retreat I feel like I have a better handle on all the little details that go into planning such an event, but it still wears me out nonetheless. Every year when we have our personal and ministry reviews at church, they ask us to list the things that energize us and the things that burden us. Ironically, the same things that energize me, also wear me out. So as much as I love planning Girls Retreat, the moment it ends I'm complete toast. Actually, I typically can't sleep that night cause my mind is going ninety to nothing, but you get the point.

Anyway, one difficult thing about working in student ministry is the fact that church, more often than not, is just something our students do because they're dragged there and are just going through the motions. Worship means nothing. The teaching means nothing. Visitors mean nothing. You know, they are basically talking bodies. I can say that because that was me. I lived, eat and breathed church. I grew up in church. But church was all I knew. It was comfortable and I like it, but it was nothing more than that. Honestly, that's not just an issue in student ministry, it's an issue throughout the entire church, but I won't go there.

The same happens with retreats and camps. The same students attend said events, have a little spiritual high after all is said and done, and then within three weeks are back to their normal self.
I don't say this with one ounce of judgement, I'm just stating the sad truth.

Ever since I've been working in student ministry, my prayer is that these trips don't just give our students a spiritual high, but that on some level, they are changed from the inside out by Jesus Christ. He doesn't just reside at a beach side, or in a fancy hotel, or at a nice home. Nor is He just a feeling. If you are in Christ, He resides inside of you and you have as much of Him as you need or as much as you'll ask for.

I didn't grasp that until my senior year of high school, and I only wish I'd of gotten it sooner. I wish it would have clicked that Jesus was so much better than everything else I was chasing after.

Jesus is better than me.

Jesus is better than you.

Jesus is better than facebook.

Jesus is better than your boyfriend or girlfriend.

Jesus is better than church.

Jesus is better than your favorite TV show.

Jesus is better than pornography.

Jesus is better than your children.

Jesus is better than all the money in the world.

Jesus is better than that sin you cherish.

Jesus is better than your favorite Bible study teacher.

Jesus is better than all your desires and dreams.

I could go on and on.

Jesus is simply better. So much better.

I'm not saying I chase after Him as hard as I should. I fall so short every single day, but my head knows He's better and my heart is trying to catch up.

This retreat is different in many ways. Out of all the retreats so far, I can honestly say I'm looking forward to this one the most. I have three different ladies coming in to share their testimony of how Jesus changed their life; how He's become better to them. I have a guys panel coming in to share about modesty and purity. We're getting involved, giving to and praying for a ministry dealing with human trafficking. Those are just a few of the things I'm excited about.

I'm praying with all my being that this is the weekend it clicks for my girls. My fear is that they'll leave after they graduate with a sense that Jesus is boring and that He's not worth pursuing. And as far as the statistics looks, my fears aren't that irrational. More and more students are walking away from their faith once it's time for them to really own it on their own.

Would you pray for my girls retreat as well? Would you pray for each of the ladies coming to share their testimony? That Jesus would be so evident in them that it's contagious and that the Lord would give them the perfect words to say? Would you pray for the girl's hearts, that they'd be tender to what the Lord wants to do in them. We have our entire lives to take this generation to the throne and plead on their behalf that they'd fall head over heals in love with Jesus. But I have one week to pray that they'd grasp the fact that Jesus is so much better. Oh, that they'd offer their entire lives to Him. I'm praying the same thing for my heart as well. Join me?

In the words of Donna Stuart's song, Radiant, Jesus YOU are better, I give you ALL of me. Amen!

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3: 17 - 18