Wide eyes and looks of apprehension is mostly what I got when I told people I wasn’t returning to school in the fall. “Are you sure that’s what you want to do?” “You’re gonna finish later, aren’t you?” It wasn’t an easy decision to forego my education, especially with multiple people trying to convince me otherwise, not to mention the stigma that comes with dropping out, oh and I also only had 12 credits left to finish my degree, but who’s counting…
Plain and simple I chose to drop out because I felt like that’s what God wanted me to do. He called me to live a life in ministry, He gave me a heart for the lost, and when He calls, you go. It wasn’t my place to question what seemed like really bad and inconvenient timing. Remember, God’s timing is perfect. Here are a few verses He used to encourage me to follow His will:
Luke 14:15-24 is the parable of the Great Feast- My takeaway: Come when God calls you. Don’t wait and don’t make excuses.
Luke 10:23-24 “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”- My takeaway: God has opened my eyes to His awesomeness so now I feel a heavy responsibility to help others open theirs.
Luke 10:2 “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.”- My takeaway: pretty self-explanatory.
Luke 9:23 “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”- My takeaway: Denying myself is something that I wanted to work on and understand better so I’m hoping through this journey, God gives me first hand experience and sheds some light on this verse.
Luke 14:33 “Those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.”- My takeaway: Bye bye education!! (Actually pretty excited I don’t have to go back to school)
(I was reading through the book of Luke when I made this decision, hence all verses from Luke)
Something else God placed on my heart is that a college degree should not be used as a safety blanket. “You should probably finish just so you have that to fall back on in the future” “It won’t hurt to finish it out, only help you in case you end up using it.” Well guess what! I don’t want a college degree to give me my sense of security and safety. I don’t want to fall back on a college degree when other things fall through. I want to fall back on God because He is my safety net and I reserve that responsibility only to Him.
The reason I chose to do the World Race specifically rather than other mission trips is because it seemed the most challenging, intense, and worthy of giving me a Luke 9:23 experience. This next year of my life isn’t about me. Sure, I’ll probably experience exponential growth in my heart, but what’s important is that I get to bring the Gospel and love of Jesus to people ALL over the world. THEY are my priority for the next year, not me.
Dropping out- check!
Signing up for a year of crazy unknowns- check!
LET’S DO THIS
