Dear Youth
What if?
If you’re a Marvel fan like me then you’ll know exactly the series I’m referring to. If you’re not a Marvel fan and planning to become one then DO NOT start by watching ‘What if,’ and if you’re just not a marvel fan and have no interest in Marvel fan now or ever then you must be a DC deserter.
Unfortunately, I am not here to talk to you about the Marvel universe but I am here to talk about the marvel of the new year. With quotes and hashtags like ‘new year new me’ and ‘new year new me, leaving all my Uni work till 2023,’ (my personal favourite because I made that one up lol), it there’s a lot of pressure to start again or start something new. Instagram and TikTok are filled with videos of vision boards and gym motivation, even shops are advertising how the newest model of hoover will revolutionise your life because it’s 3 cm slimmer shaped than the last one they sold.
It really sucks when your story seems to simply be sinking or stagnant. University seems to be spiralling into a U turn out the door, the guy/girl you thought would be standing at the alter with you turned out to be altering the course of your life in a way you didn’t want it to go, whether they were manipulative or simply not compatible and let’s not even get started on the family situation. In short, life feels like a rut in season 18 and for some of us, feels like God left in season 2.
If I had to give 2022 a label then I would call it the year of rejection because throughout they year I continually faced rejection from opportunities, the career I wanted, universities, the grades I achieved and people. Nothing seemed to be going right to the point where I was ready to give up trying at life. By this point, I couldn’t even find the will to get out of bed I was so depressed and scared to do anything, least things fall apart even more.
Now, one year later, I’ve learnt that rejection is simply God’s redirection in your life. I can’t tell you what God’s plan for your life is but I can say that even though at the time, I wasn’t sure how/ if I wanted to keep going. For every rejection I thought I had bungled, God picked me up, redirected me into a new space where I flourished. After being told I wouldn’t ever get into a good uni, I decided to take a gap year, went for an interview for an internship which I believed was where I was supposed do but got rejected. To make matters worse, after trying to organise several things for my gap year, results day came around and I didn’t get the grades I wanted. I was gutted, thinking any prospect for me to pursue my dreams had been crushed.
That same day, I got accepted into what turned into my dream university with grades, I had never thought would get me anywhere. Ironically, I would have never applied to the university I’m in yet I’m thriving and enjoying every second of my experience there.
In retrospect I can see I wouldn’t have enjoyed the things I was pursuing and even though I really did want to take a gap year and still do, the goals I wanted to achieve in my gap year have been realised in Uni and better still, with the infrastructure for me to more easily gain the guidance and support to achieve them!
The day I got accepted to university I was scared to say yes, thinking it was just another plan that would fail me. Except it wasn’t part of my plan, it was part of God’s plan because God gave me the opportunity, all I had to say was yes and take it with both hands. I remember thinking on that day, “What if I give this a try and put my all into the experience? What if I give God the control seat? And just give 100% to whatever he puts in my path?”
My journey is far from finished and I know university will have its own trials and challenges but every day that I wake up I am so grateful to be able to attend and grateful for who I am becoming because of my experiences here. All because I had a little faith to allow God to lead instead of trying to come up with alternative solutions.
So, I shared all of this to simply ask you one question. As we go into this new year, “what if you gave God control? What is the worst that could happen?” Life may be going smoothly right now or you may have hit rock bottom. Wherever you are, what if you could be so much more? Change is scary and so is not being in control but, and here’s the last thing I will share, unlike our own conscience which gives us no guarantees there is an entire book of promises that if you give God control he will carry you through and not only carry but elevate you and nowhere in this book or history has God ever broken a promise. That book is the Bible. I didn’t get into uni the way I expected God to carry me through, but he elevated me there in a way I could have never imagined while building my trust in him along the way.
What will 2023 be for you? Will be the same this time next year? Or you allow yourself to ask ‘what if?’ and let God take control.
Psalm 34:4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
Sincerely,
Your Friend
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