Highschool, College, and Life's Uncertainties

Like many high school juniors out there like myself,  I'm approaching that all-important decision making time in my life where I'm starting to think about where I want to go to school and what I want to do with my life.  Let me tell you, the best word I have for you is overwhelming.  I went on a tour of Purdue University yesterday, and just like the last college visit I went on, I came home feeling loaded down with questions, concerns, and stress about all the choices I will soon have to make.  (And of course, how the heck am I going to afford it!?)

Life, is stuffed choc-full of questions and tough decisions.  As a Christian I've often wondered if it's okay to have all these questions, and mostly if it's wrong to question God.  That may seem like a terrible thing to do, and at first, that was my reaction.  Of course it's not okay to question God, hes GOD. But the further I looked into the subject, the more fascinated I became with the truth that God made us knowing we would have questions.

I recently listened to a sermon on this particular subject that really got me thinking.  The Bible  has a lot to say about trusting in the Lord, and God proves to us many, many times that He will guide us down the right path if we follow him with everything we are. I just get SOOO excited when I think about the fact that God has an amazing, wonderfully fulfilling plan for my life that is so far beyond my expectations.   All that He requires is that I give my life over to Him and let him have full control :) (Jeremiah 29:11)

I'm reading a book right now that I absolutely love called Radical by David Platt. 

 Each time I pick up this book I feel like I gain so much more understanding for God's intent for my life and what Christianity today should (but doesn't) look like.  The author references The American Dream multiple times and compares it to Christianity. "While the goal of the American dream is to make much of us, the goal of the gospel is to make much of God."
He identifies clearly how we can honor God: "we were created by God to enjoy his grace . . . but also to extend his glory to the ends of the earth."  We have a command in the gospel directly from the mouth of Jesus to go to the ends of the earth carrying the message of his gospel. "Anything less than radical devotion to this purpose is unbiblical Christianity."
 
So the conclusion I've come to is that questioning God isn't a bad thing at all; we simply need to do it in the right way, with the right attitude. Saying, "God, I know you're in control and that you have a plan for what I'm going through, but please show me what you want me to do and why you are putting me through this,"  Our God is mysterious, awe-inspiring, and all-powerful.  We can never fully understand his love or know his reasons, but he intends for us to turn to Him in our times of doubt.  Wondering, questioning, and pondering what God has in store can be a good thing, because it allows God's glory and power to shine through the situation.   I've been told more times than I can possibly count that the Christian life was never promised to be the "easy choice".  We were made with a purpose, and that purpose is to bring glory to our creator and be a light to this dark, hopeless world. Knowing it's going to be tough, yet knowing we have Jesus, the only answer to life's toughest question sure makes me feel a whole lot better! :)