Encouraging students to accept that they do not need to know how the future will unfold will give them the freedom to live in the present and learn to make decisions from a place of freedom, not control.
Every April, I see an uptick in students and parents who reach out to a gap year. Parents and students alike share the uncertainties about their fall plans—most of which involve college—and are looking to pivot. That’s the norm.
I would not consider this spring normal by any measure.
As initial research by the Art and Science Survey of high school seniors is showing, there are more students who are questioning their college plans.
My experience supports this study. For five years I’ve fielded more calls in April than any other month. This year? It’s spiked. This means more people—parents, youth pastors, mentors—are finding themselves in conversations around this topic.
Here are a few ways to engage a high school senior who is in the throes of the “what’s next” decision.
Throw away the “one right path” idea
As I’ve worked with college students over the past decade, it’s become obvious that somehow many Christian students enter their twenties with this perception that “God’s will” is a tightrope. It’s this narrow, singularly correct path they must follow through life—they’re either on it, or off.
Thus, every fork (read: decision) in the path is a chance to fall out of God’s will. Gripped by fear of disappointing God, decisions have an unwarranted weight of significance.
Jerry Sittser, in his book The Will of God as a Way of Life, offers this perspective,
“...the Bible has very little to say about the will of God as a future pathway. Instead, the Bible warns us about anxiety, and presumption concerning the future, assures us that God is in control, and commands us to do the will of God we already know ...
from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/2y1ho2E
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