It’s that time of year – graduation announcements are being made! Celebration plans are underway and there’s a palpable excitement amongst the graduating class. Whether it’s a job well done or a barely made it through, graduating can also be a terrifying time in a person’s life. I wasn’t quite in the barely made it through category, but I certainly wasn’t in the job well done one either. I simply managed. And I was definitely terrified of the future – I’m still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.
If you’ve been around the church for any period of time, you’ve probably heard a phrase or two about God’s will. The pressure I felt to figure out God’s will for my life was more than I could take. I didn’t even know who I was, I felt lost and alone, and I was supposed to figure out what God wanted me to do with my life. I wasn’t even much of a fan of God during those years. What was God’s will for me? It’s a daunting question for a healthy Christian – I was completely unprepared to hazard a guess as someone who was an unhealthy Christian.
If you’ve heard about God’s will, maybe you’ve also heard some catchy phrase about the center of God’s will being the safest place to be. Isn’t it just like us – crazy, overly dramatic humans – to turn a beautiful truth into a religious burden? Something simple is presented to us – a gift – and we allow it to be twisted together to form a shackle.
There are scriptures that tell us what God’s will is for us. It’s His will that all be saved – He doesn’t want anyone to go to hell (I Timothy2:1-4, II Peter 3:9), that we give thanks in all things (I Thessalonians 5:16-18), and that we live a respectful life (I Thessalonians 4:1-12).
There are other scriptures that get into the nitty gritty of God’s will, but this one passage seems to encapsulate it for all of mankind: God’s will is for all people to be saved and to understand the truth (I Timothy 2:1-4). That’s His will! But what about the day-to-day… what about the decisions we have to make – big and small – that we’re choosing on a regular basis?
What is the soon-to-be graduate going to do after high school? Do they go to college or trade school? Do they get a job and move out? Join the military? Get married? Do they move somewhere new? What church should they go to? We struggle with the big and the small because we’ve missed the point. We’ve complicated what God made simple. We’ve been set free, but we can’t seem to comprehend a life without chains.
Adam and Eve ate from the wrong tree, and we’ve been trying to get back to how it was in the beginning ever since. See, it’s not about what college we choose to attend, the house we should rent or buy, or what job offer we accept – it’s all about how we get back to the Father.
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!” John 14:6-7 NLT
Jesus has just finished washing the feet of His disciples, tells them that one of them will betray Him and another will deny knowing Him… and He tells them not to worry about what’s coming. Jesus is telling them that there is a way to the Father and He is it. This would have been a huge moment for Jesus’ followers! All of their lives, they had been told all the things they had to do and say in just the right way in order to have a glimmer of hope at being accepted by God.
And Jesus just told them that He’s their acceptance.
Those words, the way, were first mentioned in Genesis 3:24 when God blocked the way to the Tree of Life after Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden. They were blocked from eternal life. They were cut off from intimate fellowship with God. The way was blocked because of sin. A fellow influencer recently reminded me that Jesus wasn’t simply showing us the path forward, but He became the path itself!
Looking at it from a cultural viewpoint, the Hebrew mindset would have heard Jesus say that He is the way and understood that He was meaning it to be their whole way of life. Their whole way of life had been striving to uphold a set of rules – the Law – and they were constantly failing. But now Jesus was to be their whole way of life… not the Law.
The Hebrew word for the way (Strong’s Hebrew 1870 – derekh) wasn’t about a set of decisions or a specific path – it was also about how someone conducts themselves no matter the decision they make. It wasn’t just about where they were going, but about how they acted along the way. Remember Joseph and his coat of many colors? He was sold into slavery by his brothers, falsely accused of a crime and thrown into prison, and forgotten by those he helped, but he conducted himself in a way that brought glory to God (Genesis 37, Genesis 39-47).
Which path is the graduate going to choose? College, trade school, or something else? Are you going to work a corporate job or fast food? Maybe the real questions should be centered around how they choose to shine their light for God no matter what the specifics. You can make decisions that look logical to the world, but the only thing that matters is that Jesus is at the heart of your decision making.
Maybe you’re not in the graduating class of 2026, but you’re facing a tough decision. Perhaps you’re stuck in a cycle of doing good things but you’re really avoiding doing the better things that might be a bit uncomfortable. God will bless what you put your hand to, but what if you’re missing His best because you’re hesitating? Or simply standing on the path without moving forward?
We know the way – that’s Jesus – but we humans have an uncanny ability to be creatures of habit. We get comfortable and decide we’re good where we are. You are far too valuable to God to stay there. He gave His one and only Son just to have the chance that you would choose Him – you’re so precious to God!
Whether you have a tough decision to make as a graduate or someone who graduated long ago, just keep your focus on Jesus. I know it sounds extremely simple – almost too simple – but it really is all about Jesus. He is the way, our way, and He’ll never lead us in the wrong direction.