One of the biggest questions we all face is figuring out what to do with our lives. This question seems especially pressing in our early 20’s because we’re making a lot of decisions about what direction we want to head. This question points to a deep desire within us to do something meaningful and be a part of something bigger than ourselves. I want to live courageously and be a part of an adventure.
In the past, this used to produce a lot of stress for me. I felt like there was always a “right” choice. What college should I go to? Who should I marry? What should I do next summer? Should I have honey bunches of oats or cinnamon toast crunch?
Lately, this question has been producing significantly less stress for me. I am in a fun season of life where the Lord is slowly revealing where he wants me to serve him. I think this relief has come from a greater understanding of the great story – God’s creation, redemption, and movement within our lives.
With a proper understanding of the biblical narrative, the fear associated with the future vanishes! There isn’t one right answer that I’m trying to find. God isn’t waiting with a hammer to smack me if I make the wrong choice. As long as I live within the moral will of God, there are SO MANY things I can do for him. So what do I want to do? He’s given me passions and strengths and experiences and weaknesses. How do I want to glorify Him and join the adventure?
That’s what it means to be free in Christ. It’s a paradoxical freedom – similar to finding a wife. When you commit to stay with one person, you are in one sense limiting yourself. But at the same time, that opens you up to not look at every other attractive person with your eyebrows raised thinking, “is this headed somewhere??”. There’s freedom in binding yourself to another. Becoming one with Christ gives us incredible freedom to love Him and serve Him and offer Him everything he has given us. After all, what can we offer to him that we did not first receive from Him? (Romans 11)
I know these thoughts aren’t new revelations – I’ve been told these things for years. But God is solidifying these truths in my mind and I am experiencing His freedom in a new way through this season.
AB