A Letter to a University Leaver

Dear University Leaver, 

As you leave your study world behind you, you may feel even more uncertain about the direction that your life is heading. You may secure a job for the year to come or you may go through several jobs before you find your place. No matter which situation you find yourself in, God has mapped out the steps that He wants you to take, to be where you are supposed to be. 

There may be many days of waiting, that may leave you feeling frustrated, forgotten or hopeless, but in the silence, God has you still in mind. Some things may not work out as you had hoped for because God already knew what was yet to come.  The path that God leads you on is necessary, to grow your faith and dependence on Him, to learn to be patient and to learn to purposefully live peacefully despite the worries that come in this life.

Sometimes you will have to make changes that are uncomfortable but necessary. You may not see it in the short-term but you will find out later down the track. When the Word of God is all that you have to believe in, claim every word upon your life. Despite what others say about you or your circumstance, you have a Heavenly Father who knows what is best. Trust in your God, who promised to look after you when you made a choice to become His child. He will never leave you or forsake you. His ways and timing are perfect, always. 

Love,

Jo

Persevering in Hard Times

Not too long ago, I was having troubles at work, which would leave me feeling quite frustrated. I didn't know what I had done wrong during the day to leave me with the outcome of an unbalanced cash drawer at the end of it. I wanted God to get me out of this job so I asked Him to give me a new job, one that was moulded more for me. However, my answer came in more rejection emails. This Bible passage was so applicable to what I was going through at the time. 

2 Corinthians 12:8-10 - "8Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. ⁹Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.¹⁰ That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

A couple of weeks later, one of the staff from the other branch came as a customer to the branch that I happened to be working at that day. She said, "Joanne, I didn't know that you are now working here. I've been wanting to tell you that we found the money deeper down in the cash drawer so it wasn't your fault." I was so relieved that I didn't have that hanging over me anymore. No doubt she was definitely God sent. 

In the footnotes of my Bible, I read the following quote. "If we turn to God, pray, remember His promises, and trust Him, we will find His grace sufficient for our needs. The Lord may not do what we ask, when we want it, but He will do what needs to be done and help us glorify His name."

From all of this, I've learnt that if I cover every shift in prayer, God is in the good and the bad but most of all that He's got it all covered no matter the outcome. I learnt that perseverance leads to seeing positive results. No matter how far our answers may seem, God doesn't work by our time. Weeks, months or years even is nothing in the context of eternity. Most of all, I've learnt that it's not about asking the question "When will I get out of this?" but "What can I learn from this?"