Jun 24, 2014

What Do I Do Now?

 

 

 

Well, here I am. My last Beacon article. After serving for two years as the editor/most-of-the-time-writer, I’m now at the end. Similarly, I’m at the end of my high school career; I graduated on May 25. And I’m also at the end of a romantic relationship. Actually we broke up just a few hours before I sat down to write this.

 

So many endings. It’s a little overwhelming to be quite honest. What do I do now that everything is coming to a close? What else than look forward to the new beginnings? This may be the last time I write for the Beacon, but it’s most certainly not the last time I’ll write. Who knows, maybe I’ll even end up writing for The Sabbath Recorder again at some point. I’m done with grade school, but come August 25 I’ll be off to my first day of college classes. Though I am sad about the breakup, it does open up new opportunities for me. Without having to struggle with long distance and spending enough time talking to my significant other, I can spend more time with the friends that are close to me, or read more books, or spend more time outside.

 

Wow. Now all the beginnings are starting to overwhelm me. Well, I should probably see what advice God has for me. Let me just open up my new Bible that I got from my church as a graduation gift. (Hey, it’s already coming in handy!)

 

Good old Jeremiah 29:11. I think I used this one in my first article, too. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Joshua 1:9. “‘Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.’” Proverbs 19:21. “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” Let’s go back a little earlier in that book, too. Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

 

Okay. Sorry to drop all of those on you at once, but they had some overlap in what they were saying. I figured it might be easier to lay them all out first and then examine the whole of what they’re saying. Okay, so let’s look at one of the big common threads here: God has plans, and those are the plans that are gonna work out. We might have our own plans for how things will turn out, but those aren’t guaranteed to work. God’s plans will, though, and these plans are for our benefit. Things might get rough along the way, but things will all be good in the end. We just have to quit relying on our plans and the way we think things should work. Instead, we should turn to God and trust Him.

 

I don’t know about you guys, but I feel better now. I’m not feeling completely good, and I’m sure that negative feelings will still follow me around for a while. But that’s okay. Trusting in God doesn’t mean you’ll only ever have positive feelings. I just can’t let those feelings get the best of me. Whenever I’m overwhelmed by them, I can look through the Bible again, reading these and more encouraging verses to help me. I can pray for help through the hard times. I just need to remember Jesus’ advice in Matthew 11:29-30: “‘Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’”