What did you dream of doing when you grew up? Did you follow through on that dream or did you allow life to take you down another path? My dream as I graduated from high school was to be executive director of a non-profit organization. I headed off to college to double major in business administration and sociology, what I thought would be a perfect foundation for such a career.
However, as I neared graduation, the realities of this career choice began to hit home. I would never earn as much as my friends who were going on to corporate jobs or continuing to graduate school to become doctors and lawyers. I would have to start out at the bottom, making little, if anything. This was going to be a difficult road ahead.
Campus interviews started up in the fall semester of our senior year. One big company was coming about whom everyone was abuzz. A friend asked me to go to the information session with her. I didn’t know anything about this company, but I went anyway. By the end of the presentation, I still wasn’t sure what they did, but they all seemed excited about the work. Along with everyone else in the room, I signed up for an interview.
Several rounds of interviews later, I was offered a job in February of my senior year. As I considered the offer, I began to realize this was the easy road. I had a job offer locked up six months in advance. It was a good-paying job, a much higher salary than I ever dreamed I’d have right out of school; maybe higher than I’d have for quite a while in my desired career path. Accepting this offer meant I could relax and enjoy these final months of college without the worries of a job search. So, I chose the easy road, instead of following my dreams.
Making choices without prayerful consideration can lead us away from God’s plans for our lives
Running away can mean taking an alternate path. Maybe it’s taking the easy road instead of the more challenging one to which you feel God calling you. Maybe you’ve made some poor decisions and ended up on a path different from the one God wants for your life. Maybe you’ve fallen in with a group of friends who are enabling and encouraging sinful behavior, but it’s easier to stay with them than to break away and start over. These are all ways we run away from the changes in our lives or from the changes God is trying to bring to our lives.
We’re faced with dozens of choices each day – some big and some small. How are you considering those choices? Are you measuring them up against God’s plan for your life or your own?
Choices we make change our trajectory
If only we were presented with simple choices – one clearly a good choice and one clearly a bad choice – wouldn’t life be simpler? Instead, we’re often faced with choices that all seem good. My choice to accept the job offer wasn’t bad. It was a great job and led to a lot of good things, but for me it was a turning point of shifting my focus from serving God to chasing worldly aspirations.
A teenage girl makes a poor choice one night and ends up pregnant. A lonely woman seeks the company of someone other than her spouse. A couple exchanges heated words in anger and begin to talk about ending the relationship. A teenager chooses to go to a party where she’s offered drugs. A man is offered a job with a higher salary, but a demanding work load and travel schedule which will keep him away from his family much of the week.
These decisions and the ones that follow will determine the trajectory of our lives.
If any of this sounds familiar and you find yourself on a different path, on a path taking you further away from God’s best for your life, take heart! It’s never too late to turn back! We’ll talk more about turning back in part 6 of this series, but just know that it’s never too late or too far to turn back.
[reminder preface=”Question: “]See anywhere in your life that you’ve taken an alternate path? How did you turn back? [/reminder]
[callout]This post is part of the “A Better Change” series. For more information on this series and to find related posts, click here: A Better Change Series – Overview[/callout]
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Kelley says
Loving this series, Kathryn! I’ve taken plenty of roads that I thought were going to be ‘easy’ but soon learned that the easy road is often quite hard. However, I have been able to use those lessons learned on the so-called easy road in positive ways when I finally did turn around and get on God’s road!
Kathryn says
Thanks, Kelley! Thank goodness He gives us the opportunity to change roads and realign with His plans for our lives. He can even take what we learned in our wandering and use it.
Christine says
Great topic and so many great truths. Thanks for sharing.
Linda@Creekside says
Direct our dream, oh Lord. May Your desires be the ones we crave to follow …
Kathryn says
Ah, yes! May our dreams become aligned with His dreams for us!
joanneviola says
Every choice leaves an affect – whether positive or negative – on our own lives & those around us. May we make our choices prayerfully so as to lead lives which bear fruit. Wonderful series, Kathryn!
Misty Brown says
I can totally relate to this. I’ve made the decision more than once to take the easy route when it comes to jobs. Each of them leading me further and further away from what I really know I ought to do and want to do.
Thank you for the post.
Kathryn says
The good news I’m learning is even with a lengthy journey down an alternate career path, we can always change lanes and get back. God will even use what we’ve learned on the journey as we make that move.