Trusting God's Actions

I have quickly learned that being a high school senior is far from the cliché movie-like experiences where the student spends most of his or her time socializing and tying up loose ends rather than extensive schoolwork like the previous years. Senior year is not for the feint of heart.

This is especially true when it comes to the Christian tradition. In fact, senior year is one of those times when it seems easier to not be a Christian at all. There are already so many decisions to make, responsibilities to uphold, and relationships to maintain as a significant phase in life comes to its close. Why should we add the burden of keeping up with spirituality while there is already so much to be done?

One of my favorite parts of Scripture is that we don't have to reinvent the wheel. This is to say that God has already given us answers to some of our most troubling questions.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."(Proverbs 3:5-6, NRSV)

This passage from Proverbs is one of the most fundamental, simple, yet challenging foundations in the Christian faith. Trusting God's will is a majority of the battle, but that's just it: we have to trust God's will. 

This kind of trust is one of the most puzzling ideas for young people wrestling with beliefs. How can you trust a God that you can't see? I trust God just as I trust anyone else: not by what they say or what they look like, but their actions. God fills the whole world, in every creature, person, and place. Likewise, God exists in every human experience. 

In July, I was ending an internship at my home parish, and about to begin the new school year, which consisted of a new internship. I had spent many hours thinking about what kind of internship within the Church I wanted to participate in. The decision was extremely challenging. Rather than discerning my own will, I made myself more vulnerable to God's will. The decision was between parish ministry, specifically liturgy (which has always been my comfortable passion), and diocesan ministry, specifically youth ministry (which has always been my uncomfortable curiosity).

I decided that the best way to discern God's will is to observe God's work. At this point, I had been appointed to the Episcopal Youth Event Mission Planning Team, and I had recently read several books on congregational development, a few of which were based on youth ministry. I recognized that so much of the work I have done in the church has been because of someone who helped me, as a young person. There was a strange moment when everything seemed clear: for years, my work had led me somewhere. All my experiences, encounters and events put me on the path to youth ministry. This is how God spoke to me.

Acknowledging God isn't all about literal listening, although that is also important. It is about acknowledging God's actions, and trusting in that. It is about discerning where you have been, and recognizing the path you have been put on. While at first, Christianity might appear to be a burden with the rest of your decisions and responsibilities, but in reality, it is a beneficial perspective.