What is next for you?
Now you have graduated university are you going to get a job?
When are you going to come home?
These are examples of questions I'm sure many of us have heard. I was asked these when I graduated college and when I finished up with one of my commitments with Youth with a Mission. They are fair questions and I know that many others get them to. However, the question comes with a lot of weight... a weight of uncertainty, confusion and pressure.
Youth with a Mission is a mission's organisation I work with here in Brisbane. For a while I have been going in to schools and teaching high school girls about their worth, hanging out with kids, as well as teaching R.E classes. Throughout this time people were asking me, what are you going to do after? When are you going to come home? Some had reached the conclusion of; oh you're going to be there forever aren't you?
It was then that I decided to do the Bible Core Course (BCC) at our campus. This wasn't because of the questions I was hearing, but because I felt the Lord say "I want to take you deeper so that you can go deeper in your ministry". He called me to this in a time when my eyes were focused on Him and I was desperate for more. I didn't want just the ordinary but I wanted Him to take me to deeper places.
During the BCC I (along with my classmates) read the whole Bible as well as studied 16 books in-depth. After 3 months of 6 day a week intensive study, I graduated this school. I returned to the ministry I was doing before because of Gods promise to take me deeper. Immediately I could see His faithfulness and goodness. My knowledge and hunger for God and His word has increased, overflowing into my ministry.
They were called to live for more
In this time, we studied the book of the prophet Amos. Amos was called by God to go to Israel, he held up a plumb line to measure the people against Gods perfect standard and found crookedness. Amos revealed to the people their immorality and injustice and called them to live in righteousness.
Plumb lines, which are essentially pieces of string with heavy weights at the bottom, measured to see if walls were straight.
When Amos saw a vision of God holding a plumb line to a wall he heard God say, "I am using it to show that my people are like a wall that is out of line." God's people were found to be walking in unrighteousness and crookedness. They were not measuring up to all God had called them to.
Called for more
Since growing in a deeper understanding of who God is, He has shown me how we as His people can live in righteousness as we are called to more. We are not called to live up to an unreachable expectation, or be a particular type of person, but to just seek Him. When we do this, it eliminates that weight of uncertainty, confusion and pressure, because our focus is on Him.
God is saying, look to me and I will make your paths straight. I am calling you to righteousness. Righteousness meaning, "the state of moral perfection required by God to enter heaven." He is saying when your eyes are focused on me, your doubts and worries will disappear.
We are all on different paths and what an incredibly exciting thing that is! One of the things that remain the same is that in our differences, trials and disagreements, He is calling every person to live in that state of moral perfection.
It is not so much a requirement, as in 'a law' but higher standard to live in, to allow us to walk in to deeper freedom and intimacy.
Rebecca Bowie is a young Christian who is intentionally seeking after Gods heart and striving to love people with everything. Now living in Brisbane Australia, was formerly living in London, England. She's a full-time volunteer at Youth with a Mission.
Rebecca Bowie previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/becki-bowie.html
