A Mighty Fortress

Europe is one of those destinations most Americans hope to arrive at some point in their lives.  There are many reasons for this, but I think one is that Europe has a great mix of the old and the new.  A high-speed train might zoom past ancient castles and new sky scrapers in a short span of time.  America has many new things, but nearly all of the old things are less than 300 years old.  One famous castle in Northern Ireland is Dunluce.  High on the cliffs that line the northern shore, the castle sits above the raging sea as it crashes against the rocks.  It stood tall and proud for about 300 years before the kitchen fell into the sea and the owner's wife refused to live there any longer.  It became a fascinating ruin, which inspired C.S. Lewis' Cair Paravel in the Chronicles of Narnia.  Ironically, Dunluce means "strong fort" in Irish.

I travelled to Northern Ireland with my college choir, and our theme song was "A Mighty Fortress is Our God."  This is a stunning piece of music that filled me with joy every time I sang it.  The song speaks of God as a stronghold, the only stronghold we can depend on through the difficult trials and storms of life.  How often in life do we look for other "strongholds" to keep us safe?  I don't know about you, but when I have questions, I often go straight to Google, trying to find the words of experts to help me through, rather than going to the Word of God.  Certainly, the Bible doesn't say exactly how tall the Eiffel Tower is (1063ft), but it does give us insight into the character of God, the nature of humans and our purpose in life.

Starting a new life at college can be tough.  For some, it's especially hard because teacher expectations increase.  For others, the familiarity of friends, family and hometown are stripped away, leaving them alone in a world of strangers.  On top of it all, there are new expenses, laundry to be done, challanging philosophical questions to be answered and life-changing decisions to be made.  I struggled my way through Freshman year, experiencing each of these in varying degrees and dealing with them in different ways.  I learned how to lean on God more, the one constant thing in a world that was shifting and turning around me.  I know that I don't have all the answers, and that's okay.  I just trust in His Word, do what I can to follow His Will and seek grace and peace through faith in Jesus.  I can't confide in my own strength, because I, of all people, know how weak and foolish I am.  But that is a beautiful thing because, "God chose the foolish things of this world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of this world to shame the strong."  If I chose to be in Christ, in the mighty fortress that is our God, my problems can put into persepective and suddenly the things I thought mattered aren't important as I keep my mind fixed on the things of heaven.