What a week! I'm sure your head is still turning from it all. You have had fun, met some friends (hopefully good ones), and you have made some memories that will last a lifetime. Most importantly however, if things went as they should, you have made some important decisions about your life. Maybe you have taken the first step and called out to the Lord to forgive you of your sins and to save you. Maybe you were already saved when you went to camp, but you know you could be a better follower of Christ, so you have made a commitment to start living for Him or to rededicate your life to Him. Maybe God even called you into the ministry and you have accepted the calling and have decided that ministry (as a pastor, missionary, full-time worker...) is the direction you will go after highschool. Let me just say, I'm proud of you, and I wish you the best!
Maybe I'm just getting old, but with this joy I feel for you comes a deep, heart-felt concern. I'll just go ahead and say it...I'm terrified for you. I have seen too many young people fall flat on their face after church camps or youth conferences. You have so much fighting against you at this point. But I know that, through Christ, you CAN be victorious over the battles you are about to face. Here are a few battles I want to warn you about. Maybe if you know they are coming, you can start praying now and be better equipped to fight:
1. The Battle of Doubts
Doubts are nothing new. We all have them...all the time! We second guess everything. One day you are sold out to a cause, you're dedicated, you've sworn allegience...then you wake up the next day and "Whoa! What did I get myself into?" It is really easy to start backing out of any commitment you made at camp, without any outside influence other than your own mind and second guessing yourself. This is normal! It is the fear of failure, the fear of finding out there is no way you can live up to the expectations. Well, you can't! That is what faith is all about. Faith is trusting in what you have already been convinced will work even if reason and logic tells you otherwise.
My only advice is to keep remembering why you made the decision in the first place! Perhaps there is a particular verse in the Bible, or a thought, or a phrase that really stuck out to you at camp. When doubts come, try to go back to that moment when whatever it was spoke to you and try to hear it again!
2. The Battle of Depression
When you come back from camp, on a spiritual high, the last thing you see coming is to be ambushed by depression, but if it hasn't already hit, it is pobably waiting for the right time to attack you. Soon, If not the the very next day after camp, you realize the structure and discipline you have grown to appreciate is gone. There is no youth worker waking you and a bunch of other guys (or girls) up at 6:30. You'll probably sleep in, and then you will realize you are alone. No one is there to make you take a shower, make your bed, get to the flag pole at 7:30 and then walk up the hill to the chow hall before quiet time... you remember the routine, but unless you live in a very rare family, such structure doesn't exist in the "real world." You could find yourself having withdrawls, and then you realize it is another year before you get to go back to camp!
You don't have to be defeated, though. First of all, there is absolutely no reason you can't continue some of the routine. In fact, I encourage you to try your best to develop such a routine. Ask your parents or youth worker to help you. Make up a schedule and try to live by it. Try contacting some of the people you went to camp with and keep the friendship going, even if you don't live near each other. Encourage one another and remind each other of the commitments that were made.
3. The Battle of Discouragement
You will find out very quickly that not everyone will be happy about the decisions you made at camp. If there has been a change in your behavior, some will probably even tell you they don't like the change. If you no longer want to do some of the things you used to do, you will face criticism, and probably peer pressure, like never before. This can be very discouraging, but you will have to face it at some point if you are going to make the necessary changes in your life. Stay faithful to your convictions, but be careful not to seem judgemental or to have a "holier than thou" attitude. This is contrary to what you want to do. The changes you make in your life should draw people to Christ, not turn them away.
Also, at some point you will let yourself, your youth pastor, your Christian friends, and most importantly God down. It is a horrible feeling, one you should never get used to. It will no doubt be a huge blow to your pride, but don't be discouraged! God's not giving up on you, so don't give up on yourself. Keep getting back up and fight some more! You are not going through anything that every other follower of Christ hasn't gone through.
"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." (1 Corinthians 10:13)
Maybe I'm just getting old, but with this joy I feel for you comes a deep, heart-felt concern. I'll just go ahead and say it...I'm terrified for you. I have seen too many young people fall flat on their face after church camps or youth conferences. You have so much fighting against you at this point. But I know that, through Christ, you CAN be victorious over the battles you are about to face. Here are a few battles I want to warn you about. Maybe if you know they are coming, you can start praying now and be better equipped to fight:
1. The Battle of Doubts
Doubts are nothing new. We all have them...all the time! We second guess everything. One day you are sold out to a cause, you're dedicated, you've sworn allegience...then you wake up the next day and "Whoa! What did I get myself into?" It is really easy to start backing out of any commitment you made at camp, without any outside influence other than your own mind and second guessing yourself. This is normal! It is the fear of failure, the fear of finding out there is no way you can live up to the expectations. Well, you can't! That is what faith is all about. Faith is trusting in what you have already been convinced will work even if reason and logic tells you otherwise.
My only advice is to keep remembering why you made the decision in the first place! Perhaps there is a particular verse in the Bible, or a thought, or a phrase that really stuck out to you at camp. When doubts come, try to go back to that moment when whatever it was spoke to you and try to hear it again!
2. The Battle of Depression
When you come back from camp, on a spiritual high, the last thing you see coming is to be ambushed by depression, but if it hasn't already hit, it is pobably waiting for the right time to attack you. Soon, If not the the very next day after camp, you realize the structure and discipline you have grown to appreciate is gone. There is no youth worker waking you and a bunch of other guys (or girls) up at 6:30. You'll probably sleep in, and then you will realize you are alone. No one is there to make you take a shower, make your bed, get to the flag pole at 7:30 and then walk up the hill to the chow hall before quiet time... you remember the routine, but unless you live in a very rare family, such structure doesn't exist in the "real world." You could find yourself having withdrawls, and then you realize it is another year before you get to go back to camp!
You don't have to be defeated, though. First of all, there is absolutely no reason you can't continue some of the routine. In fact, I encourage you to try your best to develop such a routine. Ask your parents or youth worker to help you. Make up a schedule and try to live by it. Try contacting some of the people you went to camp with and keep the friendship going, even if you don't live near each other. Encourage one another and remind each other of the commitments that were made.
3. The Battle of Discouragement
You will find out very quickly that not everyone will be happy about the decisions you made at camp. If there has been a change in your behavior, some will probably even tell you they don't like the change. If you no longer want to do some of the things you used to do, you will face criticism, and probably peer pressure, like never before. This can be very discouraging, but you will have to face it at some point if you are going to make the necessary changes in your life. Stay faithful to your convictions, but be careful not to seem judgemental or to have a "holier than thou" attitude. This is contrary to what you want to do. The changes you make in your life should draw people to Christ, not turn them away.
Also, at some point you will let yourself, your youth pastor, your Christian friends, and most importantly God down. It is a horrible feeling, one you should never get used to. It will no doubt be a huge blow to your pride, but don't be discouraged! God's not giving up on you, so don't give up on yourself. Keep getting back up and fight some more! You are not going through anything that every other follower of Christ hasn't gone through.
"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." (1 Corinthians 10:13)
