One of the biggest problems college students face is understanding their purpose. Young men and women are presented with multiple paths and options for their life which ultimately can lead them to feeling confused and without a sense of direction. This happened to me during my time in college, coming in I had no idea what my long term plan would be, I contemplated changing majors or careers multiple times and never came up with what it was I felt I was meant to do.
As people, we are not afraid of being lost, we are afraid of running out of time. We have a sense of urgency because we know our lives, like it or not, are finite and revolve around meeting deadlines, and paying bills, ect. We don’t have forever to get a degree, to start a family or achieve a goal, we have a time limit. Because we have a time limit we go through life with a rushed approach, always trying to get the most money, follow the most popular trend, oftentimes not understanding the situation that we are in. The Bible calls us to be in the world but not of the world. I used to struggle a lot with this, I chased worldly things and have worldly goals. At the time I saw no harm in what I was doing, my faith wasn’t strong and when our spiritual life isn’t strong we often fall victim to the appealing things of the world.
God has a plan for each person and their life. We know this from Jeremiah 29:11 when God says,
“For I know the plans I have for you…”
Just because God has a plan for each of us and our lives that doesn’t mean that plan is automatically put into action. God also has given us the ability to be free beings, to make our choices free of any constraint from God. So, God does have a plan for our lives but we have the responsibility to put that plan into action. Many times it’s hard to understand what that plan may be, for a long time I wanted to do just that but was unable to see what God’s plan was in my life. Even though it may be hard to see what God’s plan is, we can still reach out to him and ask his will to be done in our lives and trust that he will deliver. We must make the conscious effort to change seats and let God be the one who’s driving our life, not ourselves.
Having God as a source to guide your future is a relief, there isn’t as much pressure on each of us to make every correct decision, rather knowing God is making the right moves in our life. Making decisions on our own is like a child playing chess, we see the benefit of what we gain at the time, but often overlook the long term purpose. Life and chess are very similar, both are complex long games, there are no shortcuts, no easy ways to win. God has a purpose for each person in their lives but that purpose must be realized by the person in order to reach its full potential.
In conclusion, trusting God doesn’t mean we won’t experience troubles and difficulties in life. In fact the Bible talks about suffering more in the name of Jesus. But trusting God to lead your life has nothing to do with the opinion of others or how you’re viewed in society, it’s about being honest and open with your creator and acknowledging his ways are greater than my ways and for my life I want his purpose over mine. Think about it logically, why would we not want the one who created everything that we see to also be in charge of our lives too. The one who had the power to create everything with the uttering of words and willingness to send his son to die on a cross for us. He created us, he loves us and cares for us. He’s here for us to lean on and call out to and that is what he wants! God is here to help guide our lives because him sending Jesus was the ultimate sign that he wants us to be in his presence for all eternity. Think about it, if he were willing to send his son to die for us, how much more then would he be willing to help us when we call out for help about some guidance in our life. God is always there, we need only ask for his help.
Shalom.
Phillip Kiskaden, WKU class of 2021, is from Louisville, Kentucky, and is majoring in religious studies and philosophy.