What do you want to be when you grow up? This is a question we are asked when we’re in kindergarden, when we graduate high school, and a hundred times in between. For some, we knew we were meant to be a firefighter or a veterinarian long before career day in middle school. For others, we’re all grown up and still trying to figure it out.
At the heart of our faith we need to remember that God made us, each one of us, down to the last detail. I think of how much I loved my children when they were first born. I was in awe of everything from their fingernails, to their wrinkly little feet, to their enchanting little yawn. And if I was concerned with eye color and finger nails, how much more is God interested in the details of my life? Psalm 139 says He knit us together in the womb and ordained all our days before even one came to be. That’s amazing.
So often, if we are overwhelmed with the question of our purpose, it is because we have not taken the time to get the answer. Do we only talk to God before meals, Sunday mornings and when our team is down in the final quarter of the game? Or are we walking in communion with Him? Are we taking time…really TAKING TIME to stop and seek His will and listen to His reply? Maybe God’s purpose for you is to go to college…maybe it is to donate your favorite coat to a family in need…maybe it is to serve muffins after Sunday Mass. But we must be actively asking, and listening, responding, and listening some more.
This week’s challenge to the students – work on listening, and being obedient. Even if it is just 5 minutes of prayerful silence before bed and showing kindness to a stranger at school. Be faithful in both areas and God’s purpose for you will be both revealed and carried out.
