what's next

I sat down tonight with my iPad and opened the notes app, hoping to map out some specific goals and plans for myself as I graduate and move on to whatever's next. I decided to start out really general, with almost a mission statement--something that would guide my life no matter where I am or what I'm doing. This is what I came up with:

[See people who don't know Jesus come to know and follow him.]

Simple, right? This statement applies to my life always. And then I thought I'd narrow it down from there. I asked myself, "Ok, how will I accomplish that?" As I thought about that question, I realized it would get harder and harder to drill down to specific answers because who knows where I'll be a few years down the road? I can write down ideas of where I'll be and what I'll do, and believe me, I've done that. But really, I'm not near where I thought I would be just three years ago. In fact, I've probably been through hundreds of possible life scenarios in my head, and I'm only living one, which I probably hadn't even thought of beforehand. I'm not saying goals and dreams are bad. Direction and hope in life are good things. However, we see what's right in front of us. God sees it all. So I plan and hope and dream with that in mind. I don't want to miss Jesus because I'm too caught up in what I had planned for my life. I'm convinced that whatever he wants to do in me and through me is better than I could type in a goals outline on an iPad.

So tonight, my attempted life plan outline became an honest prayer as I realized what I already knew to be true. If I know him more and love him more every day, I'm not missing anything. However, If I miss him, I miss everything. So I don't live in fear of the many impending unknowns or of missing out on my life purpose, because if I'm with Jesus, I lack nothing. If I fear anything, it's chasing good things but missing Jesus. So it's easy and hard at the same time. So simple, yet difficult. Hard because my days are governed by plans and checklists, but my future is wide open. Easy because I trust Jesus with my wide open future. Difficult because seeking Jesus first in a world that likes him sometimes as a side dish is different and often misunderstood. Simple because seeking Jesus first brings everything else into its proper place. If I have him, I have everything. If I have everything else but miss him, I've missed everything.

So this is my plea to those in similar shoes, soon-to-be college graduates: don't miss Jesus. Chase all of those great things that come with becoming an adult, but chase them with him. If he's not leading you, don't go. He is just too good. Going anywhere without him is just not worth it.


As we build our lives, let's build his kingdom.

"Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.' This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,' says the Lord. 'You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?' declares the Lord Almighty. 'Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house.'" Haggai 1:5-9

"Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain." Psalm 127:1