Being a teenager really brings with it a mix of a lot of horrible things at once. We are already an insecure, emotional, and confused ball of hormones. And then, we’re expected to pick a career (the thing we will do every day until we reach retirement age – which is starting to look something like 120), with finding a spouse, buying a house, paying bills, doing your own laundry, and making your own food not too far in the distance. This can make things really difficult. We’re coddled through 12 years of schooling and 18 years in our parents’ house, and then we’re thrown into the world to be “adults.” And much like I just did, we pretend like it’s all just a funny joke – like being unemployed, bankrupt, homeless, single, and eating Ramen noodles at 43 doesn’t actually happen to people.
But on a real note, finding our place in this world can be one of the hardest things to do. For most (if we’re honest), it is. The one downfall of the modern American job market is that there are so many things you can do. Things were a lot simpler in the days when daddy handed you the blacksmithing tools and wished you luck. In 2016, you can get degrees doing anything. You can literally write warning labels for a living. So, how is it that we are supposed to decide what to do for the rest of our lives?
This is a hard challenge to admit as a Christian. In the church today, we’re trained to always act like we have all our stuff together, no matter how untrue that may be. We pretend like we live in one of the commercials where the green line is always in front of us leading the way, and all we have to do is follow it. That is simply not true. Sometimes God makes finding His path for our lives quite difficult. Sometimes it’s a struggle to figure out where we fit in a world with so many needs. But it is in times like these that I look to those who have gone before me.
The thing that amazes me most about Scripture is the simple fact that the God of the universe has a divine plan that He is clearly (if we are looking) carrying out all around us. From the beginning of time, God had a plan. It has passed through generation after generation and has been carried out by billions (if not more) people all throughout history. This plan, though elaborate and far beyond our comprehension, has one simple goal – one simple destination that it is trying to reach: that God’s name would be worshiped, praised, and glorified above everything for all eternity. And this plan is not distant from us and neither is the God orchestrating it. He wants to carry out this plan through you and me too. I should say, rather, He will carry out this plan through you and me whether we choose to let Him or not. Nothing on this earth, even those who hate His name, is here without a purpose.
In light of this, finding His path for us is no less difficult, but the process is quite simple. We must pursue God’s ultimate goal in our own lives. We must seek to glorify His name above everything. And He gives us an uncomplicated, if difficult, way to do it: by proclaiming Jesus as Lord and telling others to do the same. If we do this, then I think our God (the One who is Creator of everything including us) can take care of the rest.
