You don’t have to do the same thing for the rest of your life.
If you’re an emerging graduate of high school or college, you may have been confronted with the pretty harrowing idea that you have to pick a single career for the rest of your working life before you even hit 22.
I wish someone came along when I was 17 and told me it wasn’t true. Because the reality is, it’s not true.
God has given each of us a wide array of gifts, talents, and passions. We may go to school with a major in mind, end up changing that major, and then change it one more time. When we graduate, we may end up doing something that has nothing to do with our major. I went this this daunting process myself, and it terrified me.
As a recent graduate, I sat on my bed crying large, salty tears of guilt for so feeling so strongly opposed to the career I had just gone to school for. I’d only been working in my field for a year and a half! Why wouldn’t I want to continue to do the thing I thought my heart was set on? What was going on? If I didn’t feel led to this, what in the world was I supposed to do?
God’s will is not that you find a career for 30 years. His will is that you would allow him to use your uniqueness in whatever field he calls you to.
When God calls you somewhere, he has already put his blessing over it. He might call you to two or three or four different places. To the wanderer who isn’t sure about what step to take next, do not worry. To the student who just spent years studying something and has a sinking feeling they’re not supposed to pursue it anymore, do not worry. Do not worry over whether your life path may change.
God’s steadfast faithfulness is unwavering. If he calls you to go, the path will be illuminated.
Ask yourself, what unique skills or experiences do you have for God to use? Where are you able to reach people in a way only you can?
Your job might not make millions, but money isn’t how The Kingdom gets built.
Your ministry is wherever you find yourself. Whether a banker, lawyer, teacher, craftsman, firefighter or a janitor, the way in which you wield your position for Kingdom work is your ministry. With this in mind, you can do anything.
We often confuse our purpose with our vocation. “What is my purpose?” is a question we ask often hinting more at “I don’t know what to do.” Whatever you do, do it with purpose. Do it with the confidence of a child loved by God, who has purposed you to bring the Good News of Christ to a broken, hurting, and lost world.
Part of resisting low expectations is believing there isn’t only one thing we are equipped to do in this life. In fact, it’s believing God is capable of equipping us to do many things and sending us into arenas we never thought we’d be in. Remember Peter? He started out as a fisherman, became a full-time student, and moved into teaching and preaching. David was a shepherd boy turned king. Matthew was a tax collector, Luke was a doctor, Paul was a Pharisee.
The truth is, life courses change. It’s not that any of these men gave up on themselves or got discouraged over their life course changing. No, they saw something, someone, who could offer way more in their lives than their jobs could. That, my friends, is worth pursuing. Allowing Jesus to lead liberates us from the concern of making sure we’re doing the “right” job. If you’re bringing Jesus into whatever job you work, you’re in the right place.
Go boldly in the ways of the Lord. Be fearless in the vocations you choose and know if you change your mind, that’s actually okay. Faithfully follow where he calls and you will never go without purpose.
