Hey guys! Obviously, this post is the second part of the post I published a few weeks ago - So if you haven't read that one yet, I would definitely encourage you to do that :P Click HERE for that post! But if you did see that post, we're going to continue talking about really using our time in high school, to get a jump on working in our God-given purposes, and making a difference in the world. Arnd all of that starts with 1) having a personal relationship with God, 2) realizing the urgency of our situation & acting on that, and 3) being led by God into the work He'll use, to affect the rest of His children. But what about after we start? Today we're going to be talking about the process of actually FINDING our specific purpose, and PRACTICAL things that have helped me to work towards it, even as I'm in high school. Lets get into it! One of the biggest things for me, in regard to figuring out what God's made me to do, is realizing these three things: 1) He wants me to know, and isn't hiding it from me for any reason, 2) it's a GOOD purpose, something that I'll absolutely LOVE and enjoy, and 3) I don't have to reach some level of perfection, or a certain age, before I find out. That being said, which is absolutely true, it is also true that God reveals things to us EXACTLY when we need to know them. I don't think that I'm going to find out EVERYTHING about what I'm going to do, or where I'm going to go, all at one time. Oftentimes, God gives us the next step, and not a whole lot beyond that - and that's okay. It's really easy to feel like we have to know everything, so that we can "prepare" and "plan" for it. But the thing is, is that if we're following and walking in relationship with God, then we will be in the place of growth God wants us to be in, whenever He brings in new opportunities for us. Man, even in the last four years of running this blog, I've felt sometimes that I'm ready for a bigger audience, and felt eager to reach more people. But thank God He doesn't just give us what we necessarily want in a moment, but instead prepares and gives us what's BEST for us. Because the bigger my audience is, the more pressure there seems to be to hear accurately what God wants to say. I don't want to say anything that's not God, but I am human, so I'm sure I've spoken by myself several times. Thank God for growth! I know that when I'm ready for something else, it'll be here, and I'll walk right into it. Because of that, I don't have to know the WHOLE plan - I just gotta know what God wants me doing right now. And also, I think a reason why God doesn't show us the whole picture at once, is because He's calling us to SUCH great things that we either 1) wouldn't believe it, or 2) be intimidated and scared of ever even taking the first step. Another thing that has been really helpful to me, is that verse from Psalms that says to "delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart". As we live in relationship with God, and start to become like Him, we will involuntarily start wanting the things God wants. So if we're walking with Him, we can safely say that if we have a desire to do something (and it doesn't go against the Word, of course!) we can go for it! And now we're going to start talking about these practical things I've learned and am learning, about how to work towards your purpose EVEN in the midst of high school craziness. 1 - Learning about hard work Probably first and foremost, what has helped me to get a lot done this fall (and beginning of winter...) is learning how to give 112% as much as I can. Being fully present in my work, giving my all, and not looking back, or considering that I could give less, or try any less hard. There are several keys I've learned about doing this, and getting better at it every day. Here is the main one: Hard work is something God wants us to do, it's part of being made in His image, and it's the only way we will fulfill His purpose for our lives. It blows me away that some people think that as Christians, we don't have to work/work hard. They like to emphasize that "on the seventh day, God rested!" But here's what I say... God worked the other SIX DAYS. In addition, Jesus says that His Father is "always at His work, to this very day" in John. So I have a huge conviction that hard work is a big part of the christian life. That may be because I've had to come along a pretty long road, to come to this conviction. Hard work is my happy place; going for 17 hours/day, pulling 11-hour shifts at work, sprinting through five lessons of math to get ahead, I love that stuff. Because I struggled for YEARS, and years, from not having motivation, or a lot of push from outside influences. Not working makes us stagnant, unhappy, and unfulfilled. We were created to work, to thrive, to learn, and to excel! And if we're following God's plan for our lives, we're going to have a lot of impact through that! 2 - Learning about real rest You may or may not have guessed this, but like a lot of other people, rest has been more difficult for me to master than hard work (even though I haven't even mastered that yet :P). It's tempting to just "rest" by turning off our brains with some entertainment, social media, etc. for a while. And sometimes, turning our brains off for a few minutes and then turning it back on can be helpful! But ideally, we would be in such a close relationship with God, that we don't need to. But what I mean by "real" rest, is just doing some things that rejuvenate your energy - emotional, spiritual, physical, and mental. For emotional rest, spend some time with the closest people in your life, and just enjoy each others' company. Spiritual rest is very similar; spending some time to focus on JUST resting in the Father's arms, and not doing anything else. Letting Him talk to you, and talking to Him about some things too. That time is powerful! Physical rest, of course involves doing things like stretching, going on a hike, getting some sleep if you're sleep-deprived - stuff like that. And finally for mental rest (which is VERY MUCH affected by the other three), soothing music, releasing stress and anxiety to God, and maybe even not making yourself read an extra chapter. Hard work is awesome, but the thing is that it's impossible to do forever, if you don't take care of yourself - one of the ways we do that, is through rest. And on that note... 3 - Learning how to be consistent Anyone can work hard for a week, or a month. But ONLY the ones who are consistent, are successful in what they want to do, and what God's called them to do. Like we were just talking about, rest is probably about half the battle in learning how to be consistent. Another part of it, is learning how to enjoy your work... And enjoying your work can be difficult, especially when it's something you didn't want to do in the first place, or just don't feel like doing in the moment. I'm so thankful that I'm in a place where I can learn how to do this right now. I do of course have a favorite thing to do at my job (making the beverages, shocker :P), but I really don't like being miserable for a whole shift if I'm not on bar. So the key to that, is trying really hard to FIND something about your work that you do like, and then just focusing on that while you do it. I personally don't like being at the window and on the headset, because it's just a lot of customer service, and I'm still getting better at being a conversationalist, and connecting with people. But I'm learning to be grateful for that time, because it allows me to practice those things, so that I can get better, and eventually be REALLY GOOD at it. If you do that, then it'll get easier to work really hard, and for longer periods of time, and more consistently! And plus, it'll just make you happier too, because you're reminding yourself to be positive, and choosing to think like that, and that's awesome! That can turn your life around, right there. Well guys, I hope that you enjoyed this post series, and that it helped and motivated you!
The last thing I want to leave you with, is that "working towards your purpose in highschool" should be fun. It should be the thing that gets you up in the morning, and if it's not, if it's something that you dread, there's something deeply wrong. If you do have a problem like that, or even remotely similar, I want you to leave me a comment, or shoot me a note on the "Contact Info." page. I would love to talk with you about it, and share what I've learned and am learning about it, because we've all been there - but none of us have to stay there. Man, I love you guys SO SO much, and God loves you SO SO SO much more! Keep quizzing, and living, victoriously, beautiful kids of God! Keep calm and quiz on (and out)! Your fellow quizzer, Mallory <3
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Trending Posts:Author:Mallory is a graduated Teen Bible Quizzer originally from the Southern region, moved to the Northwest, coaching quizzing over the book of Matthew. Check out our
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