We’ve made it through another graduation season and a whole
new group of young adults has been promoted to the next phase of life. Moving
on is exciting, exhilarating, and scary. Some of these graduates know where
they’re going, what they want to do, and have it all planned out. Others can’t
see quite that far down the road, but they can see the next step and are eager
to take it. There are also some who still need a little more time to let the
fog clear. I think it’s that last group that helped initiate the gap year.
The gap year is apparently a trend now. Students take a year
off between high school and college, or between college and graduate school, or
maybe even between graduate school and starting a career-related job. In fact,
it is such a trend now that some schools and travel companies even offer gap
year programs. These gap year programs involve things like international travel
and focus on cultural experiences. The goal is an education beyond academics,
and to help provide rest and focus for the upcoming challenge.
I graduated from college a long time ago, but the last
twelve months turned out to be a gap year for me. It wasn’t planned. It just happened.
It started when burglars broke into our house. That day we
were robbed of not only precious treasures, but also the vision of what we
thought our future looked like in that house. We were safe but changed.
That unexpected incident then seemed to open up the floodgates
for a succession of several other rapid fire trauma-filled, grief-filled, and
tragedy-filled life-changing events over the next several months. The framework
of the life we had built became murky and muddy in the months of deluge. We
lost friends, we lost things, we lost money. There were gaps in almost every
area of our life.
Because of all the gaps, I had to work to refocus on what
was important. I stopped doing most of the things that filled up my days and
gave me a sense of purpose and accomplishment. I stopped going. I stopped
volunteering. I stopped writing. I just stopped. I, too, needed time for the
fog to clear.
I quit, but God never did.
I kept getting reminders. Things like devotional emails,
social media posts, podcasts, almost anything I was listening to or reading
eventually brought me around to the same verse of scripture:
“Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every
effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things,
you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich
welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter
1:10-11 NIV
I certainly felt like my calling was in question and needed
a new and fresh confirmation. I was, however, a little unsure about how to
“make every effort” to confirm that new calling, especially since I’d quit all
those purpose-affirming activities. I wanted to get busy, but I just couldn’t
bring myself to get back in the game.
The longer I remained still and quiet, the clearer it
became… it is not up to me to confirm my own calling. That’s God’s
responsibility.
In verse 3 of that same chapter of 1 Peter it says that “His
divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our
knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and
goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious
promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine
nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”
Nothing I have or do will confirm my calling like His divine
power, glory, and goodness can and will. My contribution is to simply get to
know Him. Getting to know Him is discovering that “He is before all things, and
in him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:17
Sometimes it takes the dust cloud of a difficult
circumstance (or several) to see God’s character more clearly. It’s what made
me be able to say that my heart aches, but I still have joy. I am poor, but
still have spiritual riches to share. I own nothing, but yet have everything.
(2 Corinthians 6:10).
He’s standing in the gaps, filling them with His divine
power, glory, and goodness, holding everything together. That’s my confirmation.
