An Exercise in Patience and Trust

• Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
• Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34)
• For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD(Jeremiah 29:11-13)
• For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

I've been trying to think of a time in my life when I felt less patient about life, or when there was less of a need to truly rely on God.  Of course, we always should truly rely on God, but it seems to me that as I inch closer to graduation, with my plans for next year still not clear, God seems to be repeatedly saying to me "Trust Me, let Me work this out, I have a plan, and My plans are perfect."  

I'm the kind of person who likes to know what is going on in my life, and I like to be in control of it. For the first time in my life I feel as if I have no control over what happens. I think when we reach a point like this in life, it's pretty clear that there is nothing to do but to look to God and say "You are God, you have created me for your work and your glory, you have prepared me to live for your Kingdom, now help me to follow wherever you would call me."  

As I think about my life up to this point, what I've learned, what I've done, where I've been, I feel like God has been preparing me all of my life to serve Him through pursuing a life of social justice, working for the poor around the world, giving a voice to the voiceless and following Christ's example of reaching out to the lost and the least in the world. I've studied, I've traveled, I've prayed and I've practiced.  God has prepared me. I am ready. 

And while I sit here saying "I'm ready, let's go save the world," God is saying "My time, not yours." I don't know God's time. I hope that it is soon, and it may be.  For now, I continue to search and pray, serving God where I am here and now, knowing that God calls us to serve Him wherever we are, and trusting that when He needs me, the call will come.