To date, the hardest season of life that I have had to endure was most definitely following the completion of my degree at Kingston University. During this period, I often grumbled about the following: "nothing anyone has said could have prepared me for what it is like after studying"; "Life is so hard"; "What was the point of going to university when I can't get a job in my field?"; "Where am I going?"; "Why is this happening?"
All of these points are very true and continue to be the general consensus for those finishing university or who find themselves in a similar transition. It often feels like a constant fight, due to the way in which we have been conditioned by our society to attain the well paid job in the industry of our choice, to get married, find ourselves on the property ladder and all in all, find our security in these good yet temporal things.
There was a significant conversation I had with a friend of mine which for me, marked the beginning of changing my perspective. During one of my discourses with her, I ended with a statement which encapsulated all of my post university efforts: "I just want to be settled and secure."
Her response to me was revolutionary yet so simple. "Well it depends on what your definition of security is" was the reply that revived a truth about God which had been forgotten due to my negligence and self-centeredness. God is our security because God is sovereign and immutable.
These truths about Almighty God, which are echoed throughout scripture, are such comforts to my soul now as I periodically wrestle with the uncertainty that life and all its seasons often brings.
So much of my discomfort in this transition was due to the loss of feeling in control. I had found this at university in knowing that after first year, I would continue on into my second year and then my third year of study. Security and control was found in the schedules of lectures, examinations and deadline dates. Yet when all of that fell away, there was this sense of the future unknown. Yet this is true: I do not know the future and neither can I always know. But even still, knowing the God who holds every aspect of my life in safe and sure hands brings the security and certainty that I have yearned for from the moment I finished education.
"The only thing that is constant about our circumstances is that they always change," is a statement which is often presented to me by a good and faithful sister of mine. This reality continually realigns my perspective, bringing me back to the truth of God's immutability and unchanging nature.
Psalm 102:25-27 puts this truth beautifully by stating: "Of old You founded the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. Even they will perish, but You endure; And all of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end."
What a great glorious scripture to comfort the heart of one who is wearied from uncertainty caused by the unknown. The truth of God's unchanging nature brings joy and peace in the midst of constant change because by knowing Him, we are reminded that He is not man, and He is the same. This has become my sanity and is reiterated beautifully by author A.W. Pink who states, "Therefore God is compared to a rock (Deut 32:4) which remains immovable, when the entire ocean surrounding it is continually in a fluctuating state; even so, though all creatures are subject to change, God is immutable."
God's immutability is married perfectly with God's sovereignty, another attribute of God's person which has brought me an abundance of hope in my habitation of limbo.
Job 42:2 - "I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted" - and Ephesians 1:11 - "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will" - are some of the verses which highlight God's sovereign nature and control of every situation.
Reading in Ephesians 1 about God's sovereignty revealed in salvation really gave me peace in so many facets of life. Being reminded that God has already ordered and planned my life before the foundations of the earth and that His will prevails has been pivotal in finding peace and solitude in the person of my God during this time.
So what is the definition of security? After having all these things in my life which have provided a false sense of certainty ripped down by God's grace and mercy, it is with clarity that I proclaim that God's immutability and sovereignty is security for the believer. Finally being able to rest in the God who loves me completely and is in control and does not change has been the hardest yet one of the most rewarding lessons I have learnt.
So the point of this article? Well for me it has been a major blessing to document how amazing God is in revealing these truths to me, even though I deserve not the comfort nor the peace of knowing and meditating upon them.
It is funny how the Lord works, taking me from a place where I desired so much control to now gaining so much comfort from knowing that He is sovereign and rules over my entire life, and that His will and promises will come to fruition, even when I want things my way. Such grace!!
For you, however, this article is to serve as an encouragement concerning the transition from university and all its false security or for anyone who is unsure where they are headed. Be of good cheer, the God who created the heavens and the earth knows when you do not know, is sure when you are uncertain, is faithful in our faithlessness and loves His child unconditionally and relentlessly. There is no greater security than this: that God has got you.
"Nothing in all the vast universe can come to pass otherwise than God has eternally purposed. Here is a foundation of faith. Here is a resting place for the intellect. Here is an anchor for the soul, both sure and steadfast. It is not blind fate, unbridled evil, man or Devil, but the Lord Almighty who is ruling the world, ruling it according to His own good pleasure and for His own eternal glory." A.W Pink
