Three years always sounds like a long time until you find yourself gowned up, wearing a square hat and picking up your graduation certificate. At that moment you realise that uni years went by quicker than Lewis Hamilton on a Sunday afternoon.
Suddenly ‘the future’ dawns upon us where lecture timetables, course work and guild societies no longer dictate your schedule. On the one hand this is very exciting – opportunity knocks and who knows what adventures may lie ahead. Yet at the same time it can be overwhelming. Decisions like where to live, what to do and how to get the job you’re looking for can dominate your thinking. Some of us leave uni with vocational degrees; many do not. So, how can we know peace in the flux of change? How can we begin to approach these questions proactively, in faith not fear?
1. Rest in who your God is
The Bible tells us that our God is all powerful (Ps 147:5), all loving (Ps 62:12), and intricately involved with his creation (Job 38-39). God reveals to Job that when the mountain goat gives birth, He is there - interested, present and involved. Yet you who belong to His Son are His precious possession, the apple of His eye, His beloved, His Children (1 Jn 3:1). If God is present in the moments of change in a goat’s life, you can be sure He is with you. Jesus has promised that He will be with you always (Mt 28:20). He knows your needs, including your need for a job, income and a place to live. The wonderful truth is that He is faithful to provide all your needs (Mt 6:25-34). He loves you and already has plenty of things handpicked for you to do to bring Him glory and make Him known (Ep 2:10). So, first rest in Him as you leave undergraduate life and be sure of His faithfulness to you.
2. Be pro-active
Knowing that God is with you as you face decisions about the future provides great security to give things a go. His will is not a tight rope you can easily slip off. Trust Him, prayerfully give your decisions to Him and then take the plunge by actually making some decisions and moving forward. You won’t necessarily hit bullseye first time, but that’s OK. Here are some questions to consider when making those post-grad choices:
Is returning home a progressive option or an easy option?
What Church has God placed me in? How can I best serve there?
What am I passionate about? What do I enjoy? What am I good at?
Have I got a CV? Is it any good? How do I know? Who has read it?
Who do I know is already doing the job I’d like to do? How can they help me?
Am I willing to do any job while searching for the right job? Is all work good work?
How am I using my time right now? What is it achieving?
Don’t be afraid. God is with you.
Comments
By Matthew Fell on 28th September, 2011
Great truths and really worth holding on to! Post uni life is challenging ... but good, and very exciting. Also, the second part of this post reminded me of the ‘Just Do Something’ by Kevin De Young, a great little book about making decisions (although he’s not charismatic, so although what he has to say is very practical and helpful, parts of it should be taken with a bit of 1Corinthians12to14-salt!)