In high school, I wanted to be a sports broadcast journalist. I saw myself reporting live from Turner Field or Sanford Stadium. I had it all planned out: I would attend the University of Georgia, major in sports broadcasting, land an internship at ESPN, and reach all of my career goals by the time I was thirty. There was just one problem with my otherwise flawless plan—God told me to go to Bible college. What was He thinking, right?
Maybe other Christians who don’t know what they want to do with their lives need something like Bible college, but I had a plan. Thankfully, my relationship with God was at a point where I knew that no matter what I thought I wanted, the happiest and most fulfilling place for me was in doing what He wanted—even if it looked less appealing at the time.
In Andrew’s latest teaching, Humility: God’s Path to More Grace, he explains it this way:
Jeremiah 29:11 says, ‘I know the thoughts that I think toward you,’ saith the Lord, ‘thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.’ God’s plans for you are better than your plans for yourself. And I know many of you think, Oh, no, God wants me to turn and go this direction, and I believe that this is what’s best for me. But God is the one who created you. He knows what will satisfy you. God will take care of you better than you would take care of yourself.”
It’s been almost six years since I moved out to Colorado for Bible college. Looking back on my life, I can clearly see how much better God’s plan was than mine. The biggest dream I could come up with in my own strength sounds extremely boring and mundane now.
God has not only changed my heart but He’s also expanded my mind and vision for my life. The world will try to tell you that you have to have a plan and that you’re already behind with it. It teaches that maturity is planning for every possible failure, but the Bible teaches faith and dependency on God. Now, I’m not against having a plan. In fact, I feel like I’ve been doing more planning lately than any other time in my life! But I had to reach a place where I depended solely on Him for guidance, rather than a list.
Andrew continues in his teaching:
If you feel like you can do what you believe God has called you to do in your own strength and power, then you haven’t humbled yourself yet and you haven’t found God’s will for your life. God is going to call you to do something that is beyond yourself for the very specific reason of bringing you to the end of yourself. That’s what humility is. It’s just humbling yourself and saying, ‘God, I need You. I can’t do this without You.’
It’s one thing to say that dreaming big makes you uncomfortable, but it’s another thing to say that it takes true humility to do so. When you have the courage to step out in faith into the mystery of God’s will for your life, the real adventure will begin. You were never meant to have it all figured out on your own. You have a Father, and if you’ll humble yourself and trust Him, you’ll be fulfilling dreams you didn’t even know you had.
Learn how to live a life of true humility with Andrew’s new teaching, Humility: God’s Path to More Grace.
