Ecclesiastes 12:1 – “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come…”
If I could go back and talk to college-me, I think the first thing I’d say is: “Hey, you don’t have to figure this out alone.”
Because that’s what I did—tried to muscle through it all by myself.
I told myself college was supposed to be the “best four years of my life.” The freedom, the late nights, the friendships, the big plans for the future. But if I’m honest? College was lonely. Overwhelming. Confusing. I didn’t know how to seek God. I didn’t even really try. I think I went after everything but God honestly.
Instead, I filled my schedule with classes, work, and social stuff that kept me busy but didn’t make me whole. On the outside, I was fine. On the inside, I was exhausted.
Looking back now, I wish I had faith in college—not in the vague “I believe in God” kind of way, but in the daily, grounding, anchor-for-my-soul kind of way. The kind that could’ve carried me through the nights I cried in my dorm room or the days I felt like I was constantly falling behind.
Here’s what I mean:
1. Faith Would’ve Given Me an Anchor
College is basically one giant identity crisis. You’re trying to decide who you are, who your friends are, what you believe, and what you’re supposed to do with the rest of your life—all while running on caffeine and Ramen. Without faith, I felt like I was drifting. Every new environment, every shift in friendships, every disappointing grade or rejection shook me. I wish I had known then that my identity wasn’t hanging by the thread of my performance—it was rooted in Christ.
2. Faith Would’ve Given Me Direction
I made a lot of decisions based on what felt right in the moment or what I thought would make other people proud. Some of them were fine. Some of them were… not. I wish I had sought God’s wisdom earlier, asked Him to guide my steps, and trusted that He had a plan even when I didn’t. Proverbs 3:6 says, “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” That would’ve saved me a lot of wandering.
3. Faith Would’ve Given Me Community
College-me had people around, but I didn’t have people who were pointing me to Jesus. I didn’t know what it meant to pray with someone, to open up about struggles, to be sharpened by friends who actually cared about my soul. When the loneliness crept in, I just assumed something was wrong with me. I didn’t realize that God sets the lonely in families (Psalm 68:6)—and that He could’ve provided that for me even then, if I’d been willing to look.
4. Faith Would’ve Given Me Peace
Anxiety ran the show in college. Am I good enough? Am I doing enough? Am I behind? I carried pressure like it was a full-time job. But Philippians 4:7 promises, “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” That’s the kind of peace I needed when I was spiraling at 2 a.m. or pretending I had it all together the next morning.
Do I regret the way I stumbled through those years? In some ways, yes. But I also know God was patient with me even when I wasn’t seeking Him. He didn’t abandon me in my confusion. He let me wander, but He never stopped calling me back.
And eventually, after graduation, I realized what I had been missing all along: I can’t do this life on my own. I wasn’t meant to.
Now, when I think about Ecclesiastes 12:1—
“Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come…”
—it hits different. I wish I had remembered Him sooner. But I’m grateful I know Him now.
So if you’re in college, or just in a season where faith feels optional or like something you’ll “get serious about later,” hear me: don’t wait. Don’t buy the lie that God only fits into your schedule once you’re older, wiser, or more settled. You need Him now.
And if you’re past those years, like me, and wish you’d leaned on Him sooner—grace covers that too. God wastes nothing, not even the wandering. He was always there, waiting for me.
Faith in college could’ve saved me from a lot of pain. But faith after college is teaching me that God was with me the whole time, even when I didn’t see it. And He’s still with me now, carrying me, guiding me, giving me what I thought I had to find on my own.
Hanna Rellar 