Thursday, January 25, 2007

urbana


A number of our college students from Grace went to Urbana over the winter break to explore missions and God's calling on their lives. I've been hearing moving reports of what happened in their lives as a result. One of them, Matt Esswein, sent me this article published in the Wall Street Journal saying, "It was cool for me to here as a business major that one of the nation's top business publications would include an article on the conference. "

Check it out: Meeting in St. Louis

He shared that this conference has been making him think more about doing business for a while and seeing what doors God opened up there. Since we're talking about vocation in college these days I wonder...

Any ways God has been working on your lives specifically with regards to vocation?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lets see, it basically consumes my thought a good 50% of the day...what am I doing with the rest of my life? It gets asked of me daily and I have to respond to it daily, forcing me to think about it more. All I know is that I know nothing. My future is not in my hands, for which I am thankful; and my excitement about what God has planned for me is overcoming the anxiety I've had in the past. One question I would challenge people with is not, "What is God's will for me?" but rather, "How do I fit into God's master plan?" This shifts the focus off of oneself and into the Eternal Kingdom. I am confident that I cannot go wrong if I keep this question in the forefront of my mind as I make decisions about the future.

Matt said...

Since I went to Urbana my head has not stopped spinning with new thoughts on what my place in God's plan is. When I went in to the Open For Business Track at Urbana I thought that business would only be a part of my life for a short time before I got into my real calling of seminary and full-time ministry. What I learned from Urbana challenged me that as Christians we tend to have a hierarchy of valuable service that nearly idolizes pastors and missionaries while leaving business leaders down on the bottom with lawyers only good for money.

As I have returned to school this quarter I am confused over where God is leading me and how the experiences and things I have learned in the past will be used. Once I opened my eyes to the opportunities around me of what I could do I have found that I probably could go anywhere and do anything. The questions I face now are What is God's calling for His people and How can I best live out obedience to his calling and use the gifts He has given me?

God is definitely at work in my heart and mind as I go through this process showing me again that I must trust in Him because He is faithful to provide.