What Now?

Next question from the Class of 2014 Leslie Notebookers:

 "Now What?"

 This girl had done what she set out to do: She worked hard, focused, prayed, and kept going through the tears and the all-nighters and the stress.

 Then it happened. The thing she had dreamed of came true.

 "Now what?"

 Sometimes, in the midst of all our hard work and our devotion, we hope our goal will be reached but, in the back of our minds, we know that it might not. 

 We stay busy so we don't think, "What if all this doesn't happen?" 

 We pray that God's will is also our will, secretly wondering if it was ever God's will or if it was just ours all along. 

 We have that pit of dread in our stomachs that asks, "What if this is the wrong path and I wasted YEARS on that goal/guy/dream/job/school/major/relationship?" 

 The girl who asked this question had a small chance of actually achieving her goal simply because it was a lofty goal; in all reality, it could have not happened, no matter how hard she worked and how many hours she studied.

 So, now what?

 First of all, rejoice and praise the One who set your feet on this path and carried you to completion. Give Him every bit of the glory and honor because 

  • He gave you the brain
  • He gave you the opportunity
  • He put you in the right place at the right time
  • He gave you the endurance
  • He blessed you with desires and understanding that lined up together
  • He has been right by your side every step of the way

Secondly, spend a month taking your newly-opened path to Him in prayer. Ask Him things such as:

  • What is your plan for me here?
  • Who are you preparing me to love, serve, or help?
  • How can I point to you when people congratulate ME?
  • Why in the world am I worthy of this honor?
  • What Scriptures will lead and guide me through this new journey?

Use a journal to record your fears, your hallelujahs, your questions, and your encouragement from others. You'll still have highs and lows even once you're on the path; totally normal.

 Third, prepare. You know what's coming, so GET READY. I'm not talking about the studying or the networking; you'll do that, overachiever.  😙 I mean the spiritual preparation: 

  • If you're moving, find a church and some great women to hang out with. If you're going into a field that will test your faith, start reading up on your apologetics or at least watch a bunch of Louie Giglio videos. 
  • Start being a grown-up, adult woman in your faith: do Bible Study, be an encourager, speak the truth in love. (More on that from yesterday's post.)
  • Learn the power of the Spiritual Disciplines, do them with your whole heart, and trust that God will give you what you need for this new challenge.
I love marking a new stage of life with a great Scripture study. So consider Esther 1-4, Joshua 1-6, or Ecclesiastes. Romans 15:4 tells us, "whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." Get some hope through God's Word.

And finally, be content. Don't let the rush of this success send you off on a chase of more and more drug-like success. [Shauna Niequist's book "Present Over Perfect" speaks perfectly to this idea.] If this situation had gone the other way--where what you wanted and worked for and prayed about DIDN'T happen--could you still thank and praise God, knowing He is good? (I wrote a blog about that forever ago; read it here.)

Because, you know what? I'd be telling you these same things EVEN IF YOUR QUESTION HAD BEEN JUST THAT: "I worked and prayed and it all fell apart." I'd still tell you to do everything I wrote: rejoice and praise, spend a month in prayer, study the Word. Win or lose, this is how you respond.

Success and failure is measured by humans; not by God.

He never fails. 
He never comes up short. 
He never misses the mark or drops the ball or says, "Whoops." 
HE IS ALWAYS VICTORIOUS. 

And as His child, you can be confident that, sine He is Almighty God, Lord of Hosts, and Lord Most High, He is in charge and everything can be for your good and His glory. 

I love you. I'm proud of you. I would have been just as proud if you didn't find success. Run hard after Jesus and trust Him to take care of the details.

Leslie

@leslienotebook
myleslienotebook@gmail.com


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Goodbye, Mr. Ken

Image
I usually try to keep my blog posts general, so that any person from any walk of life who reads it will read truth that can be applied. But today I may be writing to a select few people: those who knew Mr. Ken Greene. I started working with teenagers in my church in 2003 after a holy calling from the Lord. And the first Sunday that I stepped into that overwhelmingly-noisy room full of high schoolers, there was Mr. Ken. He was as predictable as the morning sun. He was there every single Sunday morning, taking the roll and shaking hands with kids. (I just realized that some of those teenagers didn't shake hands with anyone BUT Mr. Ken. Shaking hands is a lost art, unless you knew Mr. Ken.) And he was there every Wednesday night, handing out gum from his fanny pack. Yes, I've taken some myself, and I don't even like gum. But I loved Mr. Ken. I thought of Mr. Ken as one of those guys who would never die. Seriously, the man never aged and never slowed down. He had endura
Read more

In Your Mouth

Image
What do you put in your mouth? And why? I wrote a post a while back about a book my pastor gave me  and I was so enthralled with it he gave me another: Eat this Book by Eugene Peterson. (If that name rings a bell, it's because that's the guy who wrote The Message version of the Bible. And if you like The Message , you should really read this book.) Anyway, the book is centered on this passage from Revelation:  "So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, 'Take and eat it; it will be bitter in your stomach, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth,'" (Revelation 10:9, HCSB). John, the writer of Revelation, did just that: He ate the words of the Lord. Literally. Now, to get the main idea of the book, you need to read it. But what I'm sharing with you today is what God's been working in me over the past few weeks: God has put His word in our mouths. Well, at least, He said He did. Here are just a
Read more

Eleven Truths Nobody Else will Tell You

1. You have ONE identity: I AM GOD'S.  Refuse to be defined by what you do or don't do, have or don't have, or "whose" you are other than God Himself through His Son Jesus Christ.  God gave you passions and talents: do them. You are different from everyone else and that is GOOD! Be weird.  BE YOU. Not the you that you want  to be...the you God created you to be. (Isaiah 43:1, Psalm 89:15-16) 2. This is not the high point of your life.  Refuse to believe the lie about "high school is the best time of your life." Determine to make each season of life  your best in any situation .  Choose to be content AND thankful every day .  (1 Timothy 6:19, Philippians 4:6-7) 3. You are weak.  But you are strong enough for anything  if you use JESUS' STRENGTH.  He WILL give you more than you can handle but not more than HE can handle! (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Philippians 4:13) 4. There is no such thing as "happily ever
Read more