Yes, it's true. I changed my major from Biochemistry (pre-pharmacy) to Accounting. This change seems pretty crazy and surprising and random to a lot of people, I think, because I seemed so dead set on what I was doing. Well, that's true and not true. I was dead set on pharmacy because it's where I felt God was leading me. I was looking into medical missions options or ways that I could use pharmacy to minister to people in lesser reached areas in the States. It made a lot of sense. I'm pretty good at chemistry, interested in medicine, have a desire to help people, and want to use my career to reach people for Christ. I think I've always had some hint of doubt about this path, but I just thought it was the kind of doubt that I deal with in every decision I make. My doubts weren't driving me crazy or anything; they were just there, just a little bit. The more I thought about applying for pharmacy school, going through pharmacy school, and ultimately becoming a pharmacist, the more that doubt became more than just the normal hint of decision-making doubt.
A month or so into this semester, my small doubts turned into undeniable thoughts about changing my major. I started looking into other majors and kept coming back to accounting. I love math and records and spreadsheets (nerdy, I know), and I'm confident that God will open doors for me to work in a place where I can get involved in a local church and local ministries, whether that's near home, across the States, or in a different country. I've prayed about what I can do with my life to bring God glory for years, and the more I've prayed about my future, the more God has shown me that I don't have to fear "missing out" on his will. It's really easy for me to think, "What if I should persevere through hours of chemistry and biology labs to do what I thought God was leading me to do from the beginning? What if I'm totally making the wrong change? What if God has something else in mind for me?" but every time I think something like that, I know those what if's are not necessary. They are not beneficial to me. Actually, they are detrimental. My Father loves me. I am His. Only good things come from Him. If I'm seeking HIS face (rather than seeking His specific plan for my life), He will not fail to finish what He has started in me. I believe it. Even more, I believe that God has used the classes I've taken and the people I've learned with to prepare me for my future, even though chemistry has nothing to do with accounting. With that (that God is using my classes to prepare me for my future, not that chemistry has nothing to do with accounting) in mind, I'm finishing Organic Chemistry and Physics this semester. Yeah, it's been fun.
Nevertheless, I keep these verses in mind as I make this change:
"Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.'" James 3:13-15
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--His good, pleasing, and perfect will." Romans 12:2
"Rejoice always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
So truly, I don't know with any certainty what three years down the road will look like for me. I don't have to. I don't have to act like I know. I do know, however, that as I seek the Lord, He will renew my mind, and I will be transformed more and more daily to be like Him. As I know Him more, I understand His will more. But essentially, Paul lays out God's will for every believer in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. I think if we can grasp that, God's will works out in the specifics of our individual lives.
