Yesterday I had orientation at the school I'm transferring to, Kuyper College. It was a great day; I got excited all over again about going there in the fall. Today I was thinking about the day I received my acceptance letter from Kuyper and how my heart celebrated when I opened the envelope and confetti spilled out all over my desk...
I had prayed a lot over whether I was supposed to transfer to a Bible school. And when I say a lot, I mean this had been in my prayers daily for ten months straight. I kept asking God what the next step of my life was. Was Kuyper in his plans for me? Right before I sent my application in at the beginning of April, I felt such peace and happiness in making the decision. When I submitted it, I knew that as long as I was accepted, I was going to attend school there.
When people look at my life, when I look at my life, it doesn't seem to make sense at first; some things in my life don't make sense to me at all. However that does not make me worried. In fact it brings me great comfort in the fact that I'm not making decisions based on my own knowledge or what the world sees as "wise." God's wisdom doesn't always make sense to us, we can't always understand his plans, but they are good and his timing is perfect.
Many times throughout this past year I've gone back to Proverbs 21:24 which says, "A man's steps are directed by the LORD, How then can anyone understand his own way?"
This verse explains some of the biggest decisions I've made in the last couple years of my life by simply not explaining them. Because many times, I don't even understand the decisions I'm making.
I began by making a big move... going to a school 800 miles away from the only place I had ever lived. My classmates thought I was crazy and they didn't understand my reasons for leaving Grand Rapids. When I got to Radford, I was asked the same question a thousand times: "You're from Michigan?! Why would you come here?"
I truly felt called there, so I was pretty confused when I found out it was the biggest party school in the state. If there was any "logical" place to find out what being in a relationship with God really means, it wouldn't be Radford University. But that's where I really met God and began to know him more deeply. Radford is the unlikely place where all my head knowledge about who God was became things that my heart finally knew too. On a campus filled with thousands of students who didn't want to follow God, I ran into one who had a heart to disciple women. God very obviously had his hand on my life.
If anyone would have told me two years ago that I would be moving back to Grand Rapids to go to Bible school, I probably would have laughed in their face. I never wanted to come back here; this was not in my plans. As I seek more to follow God's direction for my life, the crazier it seems. So when I don't quite understand my own way, when I can't find words or logic to explain my decisions, I get excited. God's plans are so much bigger than mine. This reality keeps springing up in my life, and I can't wait to see what he has in store for my next couple years at Kuyper.
Your life seems filled with twists and turns. If you're laughing in someone's face at the thought of Bible school, think about the direction you could have been moving. We all have hit speed bumps on the road of life- but just remember that our mistakes have shaped us into new people. Put these to past and look to the future. Yet forgive those who have wronged you and seek forgiveness from the ones you have wronged. I had the biggest fight with my mother a few years back, and we haven't been the same since. I am seeking forgiveness, and so is she- I know she is- but it's hard putting it to practice. It will come with time.
ReplyDeleteGod has plans. We all know it. Sometimes it's less evident to us and to others, but hey, hindsight 20/20, right?
I felt compelled to reach out- It's something we should all do more, isn't it? Go reach out to a stranger today- or even an old friend or family. Don't think it awkward because the grace that we experience in the end is well worth it.
God bless you hun.