Well after hearing about the times you will enter college and how prepared I should be, it appears the day has come. This Fall I will start classes at Samford University, and I will be living on campus. So out of 18 years of preparation, I should have a plan, a lot of goals, and pretty much be well prepared for college.
That is the propaganda, anyway. For a couple of years now, half the questions I receive from older friends and family members is about what I want to do with my life - where I will go, what my major will be, and where it should take me. I have felt uneasy answering. I could take an educated guess what I will do and where my life will be four, five, six, or seven years down the road. I could sound ignorant and apathetic by saying the truth, that I really just don't know. And really, I don't know now. I really do not know where I will be five years from now.
But I heard someone speaking at Samford who made the whole transition sound a little more comforting. Why worry about predicting our futures? Basically, she said that there is too much pressure put on sixteen and seventeen year-olds into knowing what they want to do with their life. Why should we expect sixteen year-olds to know where they will be six years down the road?
Now I know that to some of you this may sound like an excuse for perhaps my laziness. But I'm not saying we shouldn't have goals; I'm not saying we should not start looking into what we are good at, what jobs are available, where God may take us; I'm not saying that God's Providence undermines our responsibilities. But why worry too much about the future when it is in God's hands? I think so often we like to wiggle our way around what Scripture tells us. I'm all about taking Scripture in its proper context instead of rushing to conclusions, but I take Scripture as it is. And when Scripture tells me not to worry about tomorow because God feeds even the birds, and is sure to provide for us all the more, I take that for what is says. If I'm a little uncertain about where my life will go, as long as I do my best and do my best to glorify God in the process, I really can't second guess Providence.
So where will I be five years from now? I don't know. Right now I must focus on the present. I work at Chick-Fil-A, I just graduated high school, I go to Trinity Presbyterian Church, I have a devotion to work, church, family and friends. I must focus on these things first. Perhaps five years from now my life will be the same mundane life it is now. I have higher goals than this, but as long as I don't settle for less than what God is giving me, then I can't complain with this. For all I know, though I don't plan for things to move this fast, I could be a married Father, making $80K a year writing articles a few grammer corrections better than what I write now. For all I know, I won't even be alive five years from now.
So instead of setting goals for ourselves about the money we will receive and the careers we will have, and the degrees, and the fact that our jobs will be something that comes easy to us...oh and about how we will change the world, about who we will marry, and already expecting God to make sure we get the kids we want, and telling Him if their going to be boy or girl, it's time we set more mundane goals for ourselves. Work for your employers as if you are working for God, because, you really are working for God; study hard when the Fall comes around; guard your eye even on a campus with a two to one girl/guy ratio; attend church services weekly or as close to weekly as possible. And as you get older, you may have different goals, but they may be just as mundane. Love only one woman (or man); work hard for your family; train up your children in the way they should go; etc. But sometimes the more simple and mundane goals are what makes you a good person. Why focus on something that has not come, perhaps never will come, something that you can not see, when you should focus on what you have now, and excell in it?
So to those entering college as I am, don't be scared. Just do your best and give it all to God. Trust His plan, and it will be fine. I have known plenty of people who constantly change their minds about they want to be when they grow up. I know of one person who has consistently known what he wants to be, that is my friend Timothy who wants to be a proffessional violinist. Other than this, people seem unsure, or ever-changing. So likewise, I urge the parents of these young men and women not to worry much either. Have faith in your children, and more importantly, in God. Certainly encourage your children to be looking to what they can do with their life. Some parents may be living the regreat of not caring enough. But their is a difference in not caring and simply not knowing. If you have done your job as a parent, then I imagine the child will be mature enough by now not to mess everything up, and wind up okay.
So all this to say, I think that the particular lady at Samford (I believe it was the Head of Freshman Life or something like that), hit the nail on the head in her comment. Sixteen and seventeen year-olds, or even eighteen and nineteen year-olds don't have to know what they want to do with their life, other than one underlying purpose: to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. And that mundane vision, is much more eternal than any college degree.
What do you think?
God bless you
God bless America
June 22, 2008
Ryan Hampton
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