Trusting God

This past spring semester was a challenging time for me spiritually. I definitely grew a lot and learned a lot, but it still wasn't easy. I began to feel uncertain about my summer plans way back in November and started to pray daily that God would just lead me to wherever He wanted me to go. I had no idea then just how much bigger his plans were than what I had planned.

My original plan for this summer was to work as a nurse intern at Mayo Clinic in their neonatal intensive care unit. I wanted that position so badly and spent weeks perfecting my application. Weeks later, even though deep down I think I knew it was coming, I was still devastated to read that rejection letter. I knew in my heart that God had something else in mind for me, something much bigger and much further outside my comfort zone.

It just so happened that the same day I received my letter from Mayo Clinic, the campus ministry I am involved in had a prayer meeting. I know that was not a coincidence. I will never forget holding back tears that night and telling some of my closest friends that God was asking me to trust Him with something really big, but that I didn't know yet what that big thing was. It would be several weeks before God would reveal His plan for me to spend my summer serving Him in South Africa.

Although I know they meant well, it frustrated me that several of the friends I talked to during this time told me to stop stressing out about the future because His plan would end up being better than anything I could have ever imagined. Now the stop stressing part is definitely true. I should have done less stressing and more trusting. But I want to address the second part of this piece of advice because although it might sound nice, I don't think it's entirely true.

Is it true that God's plan is always, always, always better than our plan? Yes! Is it going to be a plan that we like or would ever choose for ourselves? Maybe not. Every time friends would say that to me, I would in my mind think of several options for my summer that I really, really hoped were not part of God's will. Sometimes God asks us to do things that we don't want to do. Sometimes He asks us to remain in a job we don't particularly like or to be friends with a person who is not the easiest to be friends with. Sometimes He allows the people we love to die or allows us to get sick. I believe with all my heart that "in all things God works for the good of those who love Him" (R0mans 8:28), but that does not mean that life is going to be easy all the time.

I have no doubt that God's plan for me this summer was to come serve in South Africa. He has made that clear to me in so many awesome ways. And I am so thankful that after a semester of praying and trusting and growing in new ways in my faith, God's plan was something that I absolutely love. In fact, I can't imagine anywhere I'd rather be this summer than loving on the babies here at Lighthouse.