To Walk in Confidence

This month has been a whirlwind for me, so I can’t imagine how crazy these weeks have been for you. I apologize for not writing in these last weeks, I hope to be able spend some more time writing in the next few months.

I got a wonderful question yesterday, and I am going to try and give some perspective. Whenever I give an answer to a question, please don’t think of it as absolute Truth. I will do my best to write out of Spirit’s leadership, but I am sinful and make errors in interpretation. I want you to think of this letter as perspective. It will hopefully give you some more tools for answering these questions for yourself in the future. That said, let’s dig in!

What exactly does it mean to follow the plan God has for you? Can you mess up the plan? Is there more than one "path"?

I know God will use me anywhere I end up but my desire is to be exactly where He wants me!

Ah, how many times I’ve wished that God had included user manual for the life of Zach Tingle! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve agonized over hard decisions and begged for clarity. Romans 1:21-23 says that even though I knew God, I did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but I became futile in my thinking, and my foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, I became a fool, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man. My priorities were out of place. The decisions in front of me had become more important that my relationship with my Father. In a sense, I became so focused on “doing” what God called me to do that I began to worship the action itself and not the one who called me to it.

I would like to reorient this question a little bit. It is really frustrating to search the Word of God to figure out which major you are supposed to pursue, which city to live in, which person to date, etc. I have tried, and I have failed to figure out any of those things. Our king is far less concerned with what we do than with who we are. To answer your questions directly, following God’s will for your life is to become more like His son (1 Pet 1:13-16). If you are earnestly seeking His face, you cannot mess His plan for you up.

This is just me for a sec. I have to preface this by telling you that I am an uber Beaver-lion. I love having everything all planned out and everything in order. But from my experience, it doesn’t matter what you do (profession, major, greek life, student organizations, etc). I have found so much more joy and freedom living life trusting that the Lord will take care of the details. At this point in my life, I have no idea what the next steps are. I think the Lord has called me to the Middle East as a missionary, but He currently has me working in the IT department at Pine Cove. I have no idea why I’m here, but He hasn’t opened up the doors for me to go anywhere else yet. I submit applications to mission organizations every couple of months, but I haven’t heard back (which I take to mean, “don’t move”). Seek the things that you are passionate about, but don’t get bent out of shape when either you don’t hear back or get accepted to all of them. The latter circumstance is the Lord letting you choose.  Prov 16:9 says that we get to plan, but ultimately the Lord will direct the way we go. Be anxious for nothing, but pray with a grateful heart (Phil 4:6)

Some questions that have served me far better than “what should I do” in the last few years are, who has God created me to be? And, what am I worshiping? In keeping with the idea that God’s will for us is about transformed into the image of His son (Romans 12:1), it follows that who we are and what we’re worshiping become very important questions.

You heard what your identity is this summer. Are you walking in that? Have other factors started influencing that identity (student, girlfriend, sorority sister)? Is it possible that you have started worshiping the will of God in your life more that God himself?

Here are a few pieces of advice I have received over the years that may be of use to you.

• Get to know the Lord so well that you know what He would do if He were in your shoes. 
•  Remember that your life is no longer your own.
• Trust that the Lord is taking care of you.
• Remember that painful circumstances are not indicators of the “wrong path.”
• Pray!

I love you guys and I continue to pray for each of you! Walk in the confidence that trusting the Lord brings!

May the Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace. -Numbers 6:24-26