Our entire life is full of different chapters and adventures opening and closing seamlessly with the next. Sometimes, we hardly even notice the changes, the way the page turns as one chapter ends and another begins. It's like when you're reading a book that you're so into -- you get consumed in the story without any interruptions. Life can be like that when there aren't any obstacles on your path or a fork in the road, just a simple path to walk down. But other times, life gives us interruptions. It's like those times when you have to stop reading in order to take care of something else. You stop at that new chapter, and while sometimes it's easy to pick up where you left off, other times your faced with so many interruptions that you struggle to start back up again and embrace that next chapter.
Just as this next chapter in your life may be hard, it will without a doubt be filled with excitements and memories you will treasure forever. So if you're scared, lost, excited, and anxious I urge you to embrace your new adventure with open arms and an open heart. And more than anything I hope you open your soul to be touched by God throughout the fun times as well as the challenges. Your next chapter will be filled with uncertainty of the world around you, but that doesn't mean you have to have uncertainty in your heart and your purpose. If you ever begin to, I hope you will be able to have faith.
Have Faith To Trust God and His Process
As I said before, life brings uncertainty and this world is sure to give us obstacles. When it does, look to His Word to reassure you that even though you may not understand in the moment why things happen the way you do, He does and one day that will be clear to you as well.
Proverbs 3:5–6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. Acknowledge him in all your ways, and he will make your paths straight."
Luke 11:9-10 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."
Isaiah 40:31 "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
Psalm 139:23-24 "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
Have Faith When You're Tempted To Get Caught Up In the World
On top of the various obstacles you will come across in your lifetime, you will also be pressured by the nice and materialistic things that this world has to offer. I find that it can be those very things that stress you out more. In those times, I hope you will have faith to trust that it's not worth the stress. Choose the job that makes you happy, the college that feels like home, live your life based on what fills you on the inside instead of what fills your pockets on the outside. Fill your heart with love.
Hebrews 13:5 "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
1 John 2:17 "The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever."
Mark 10:21 "Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
Have Faith To Always Act In Love
Yet no matter what is going on in your life, your outlook and attitude will determine how you handle the situations. Let your faith guide you to always act in love and have a positive attitude towards life. Act in love and your next chapter will be full of life and not just a part of your life.
Colossians 3:12 "Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."
Galatians 6:9 "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
Luke 11:35-36 "See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you."
Have Faith in Always Treating Others With Kindness
Throughout your next chapter and new adventure, you will come across thousands of people, some that you've known from past chapters, and some that you are meeting for the first time. This world isn't always kind and the people in it may not be either. But I urge you to treat others with kindness and love, just as God has with you.
Romans 15:7 "Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God."
Matthew 7:1-2 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Luke 6:27-28 "But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat."
Colossians 4:5-6 "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."
1 John 4:11-12 "Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No once has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."
