According to the National Center for Education Statistics about 80 percent of college students change their major at least once. Of those that graduate with a bachelor’s degree only 27 percent get a job “closely related to their major.” I’ve seen this firsthand.
One of my sons had an interest in health since he was young. When deciding his course of study, nearly all of the factors related to his desire to know more about the human body. He was frequently thinking about how to help others lead physically healthier lives and would even talk about how to design neighborhoods that would encourage healthier lifestyles. It was no surprise when he completed his undergraduate degree in exercise science and, subsequently, earned a master’s degree in public health. During his educational journey I remember him saying, more than once, how disappointed he was when others didn’t enter a career connected to what they had spent so much time studying. His career? He owns a small coffee business.
This phenomenon is what makes quotes like “I’ve known this is what I wanted to do since I was a child” quotable. The longer you live, the more you learn about yourself. You uncover strengths you didn’t know you had and identify blind spots that others had to point out. We’re always discovering more about ourselves.
This, however, does not describe God. It’s true that God is not “in-process” or discovering more about Himself over time, but that’s not what I mean. What I’m getting at is that God is not learning about you. He does not wonder what job you’ll settle in to, He does not question how you will respond to a particular situation and He doesn’t wonder what you’ll amount to. Where it says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28), we tend to think in future terms. During a hardship perhaps you’ve said, “I hope God shows me what this is all about someday.” God may, indeed, have an end goal in it, but what you’re enduring today is also for your benefit today.
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Mt. 10:29–31)
Something humanly valued at half of one cent is not lost apart from God’s will. The hair that fell to the ground when you last scratched your head did so precisely according to His direction. He has known where you are strong and where you are fragile at every point of your life, and He has used each of them at every stage of your life for His purposes. His purposes apply to now just as much as they do for the future.
Your progressive development does not cause God to reconsider His plan for you. In other words, the odds of you doing the thing “closely related to your major” is 100 percent! Your life’s course of study is for right now. Do not wait to accomplish something for God because you believe He is preparing you for something after you “graduate.” Conversely, don’t rest on accomplishments of the past when you were still “in your prime.” You are where He intends you to be and the opportunity to serve Him is now.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Eph. 2:10)
Who you are right now is the result of His workmanship and, through the power of His Son, God has given you today to execute the good works for which you have been formed. You have been personally fitted for the things He is putting in front of you this day. The opportunities are His design, but it is up to you to “walk in them.” Today is the fulfillment of all the days before, so don’t overlook God-honoring possibilities before you right now. Choose this day whom you will serve.