by Evan Dinelli There’s a reason no one says our biggest life lessons come when life is easy. For me, transitions have always been tough—I seem to have a knack for botching them—but they have also been my seasons of greatest growth. Before the struggles of adjusting to college 4 years ago, God was merely a concept to me. But amid the trials of my first semester, the reality of God came into my life and changed everything around me: how I view myself, how I view others, and how I view God’s glory (as ultimate). Upon graduating and moving to Chicago for work, I struggled with consistent stress and seemed to have transition troubles 2.0. There are plenty of practical reasons why adjusting was hard, but here’s the biggest lesson I learned: What you believe affects everything you do, so when you’re assessing your problems, it’s best to begin with the heart. Therefore, rather than giving you my top 5 adulting mistakes—by the way, LÄRABARs don’t count as dinner—here’s the best advice I have for the heart of a millennial in transition: IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU. Isaiah 6:1–8 tells of Isaiah’s transition from a focus on himself to a focus on the glory of the Lord. "I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!" Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for." And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here I am! Send me." God’s glory is ultimate. Compared to God, whatever else has no weight. In this text, when God’s glory comes down, everything is changed. While Isaiah already believed in God before he walked into the temple, until this moment God was just a concept to him. When God was merely a concept to me, I shaped how God fit into my life plans, and not much changed, because the heart of my beliefs didn’t change. What is true for Isaiah is true for us: experiencing God’s glory rearranges our existing beliefs and leaves us saying, “Woe is me!” When we see our lives compared to God’s holiness, we are taken back from thinking of ourselves and made to gaze upon our holy God. You are probably familiar with questions like "What are your plans after college?” or “What’s your five year plan?” When we have the opportunity to contemplate these questions, it's easy to dream and plan selfishly. The trap is to think it's about us: our comfort, our status, and our glory. In these plans we obsess over how we fit in and how others perceive us. On the contrary, the reality of God frees us to take the focus off ourselves and say, "Here I am, Lord, send me.” Your plan, your glory, not mine. The glory of God puts an end to thoughts such as, "Am I ever going to do something big with my life? Does this experience benefit me and make me look good? Do I feel good here?” In fact, we can stop thinking it's about us at all. Here lies the secret for planning and transitioning well. God, help us to be so moved by your majesty that we can be freed of lesser cares and affections. Continually teach us to gaze upon your glory to find freedom from the empty path of self-focus.
0 Comments
By Chelsea Sherlock
A lot of my energy during college was used to try to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I knew what I wanted to study, but not what I wanted to do with it. Should I pursue working for a church or non-profit? Did I want to graduate school? Could I survive graduate school? Should I stay in the U.S. or go abroad? Was I being selfish if I went the corporate path? For most of senior year, I thought I had figured it out. My calling was overseas missions. I told people that was what I was doing. Then in March, three months before graduation, God said no. Suddenly I had to once again start looking for a job. When I was hired and started my current job, I thought that feeling of uncertainty would end. I was in the world of marketing. I’d made a decision and it was going well. For a brief period, I felt like I was I was doing what the King had planned for me as I settled into my apartment, got used to my position and invested in a small group through my church. Then those internal questions about what I'm doing with my life came back. Once again, I've been wrestling with the topic of "what do I want to do with my life?" and "what is God calling me to do with my time?" As I've talked to more people my age and further along in life, this seems like something that won't go away for a while. It's expected that in this stage of our life as young adults, we're going to be seekers for a while and will be on and off for the rest of our life. One of the best parts of this stage of our life is the amount of freedom we have to move to new areas, choose how we spend our free time, volunteer for a cause we care about, find a side hustle, and give financially. The downside of the freedom is that the amount of choices can diminish our certainty that we made the right choice. People in my life have provided needed guidance for moving forward in pursuit of God when things seem unclear, and I'd love to pass it on.... “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” - Proverbs 3:5. 1) God will direct you on your path. Pick a direction, move towards it and trust God to course correct as needed. Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” - Matthew 22:37-40 2) God's chief desire for his disciples is for them to love Him and love His people. If what you are passionate about what falls under those two commandments, it fits within God's will. We have room to choose based on our desires and preferences when the options don’t oppose God’s will. “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” - 1 John 5:14 3) Pray. Speak with God, asking Him for guidance, sharing your frustration, confusion, excitement and any other thing you’re experiencing. Ask Him to provide opportunities and wise council. Yield your will to His. Ask for him to give you a sacrificial heart, wisdom and a willingness to embrace being uncomfortable. “We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,” – Colossians 1:9-11 4) Know that God might not have something that seems impressive planned for this stage of your life. Jesus didn’t start his ministry until his thirties, which is around the same age David was when he became King, and Paul was when he became a Christian. Moses was 80 when he led the Israelites from Egypt. This might be a season of growth that prepares you for what God has next. There is no perfect strategy for knowing how to spend your time and money and what to pursue career-wise, but hopefully these will provide a good framework. For me they have been guidelines that have helped me go from just thinking about what I should do with my life to actually taking action - even if that action step is something small like emailing someone for more information, sending an application or choosing to go to an event or meeting. We have the freedom through trusting the Lord to try and fail and try and fail again as we pursue serving Him. |
AuthorMay 22nd's post is from Mary Elizabeth Goodell. She lives in Ukrainian Village on the west side of Chicago and works for Hope Works Community Development. She is committed to working with and for the disenfranchised, particularly women who have experienced sexual exploitation and gender based violence.
BloggersWe'll post from a variety of voices of 20-somethings in the Windy City who are navigating life, work and relationships post-college. Archives
May 2017
Categories
All
|