Who you are when you get there

It's not where you go or what you do, but who you are when you get there.

I've spent a large proportion of my life worrying about where I'm supposed to be and what I'm supposed to do. Weighing up the pros and cons, dwelling on the what ifs, making life complicated. What to study, what to do for work, where to do my work, where to spend my gap year, where to live and how long to live there. It's exhausting!


I know that God has a plan for my life. Well, you would hope I would know from the number of times I've heard Jeremiah 29:11. I know He has a plan and I know it's a good plan. But I've come to realise that it is not a rigid plan that I have no say in. 


Four years ago, I decided to move to New Zealand. I could have decided to stay in Northern Ireland, or even to move to South Africa or Scotland. I thought long and hard about it, trying to work out where God wanted me. What I didn't realise was that, maybe there wasn't a right place for me to be. God has blessed and provided for me in NZ, but I think He would have blessed and provided for me wherever I went. 


I'm not saying He doesn't care what I do or know what's best. Someone explained it to me like this: it's like a playground with a fence around it. There are swings and slides and seesaws and roundabouts in the playground and, within the playground, I can play on anything I want, as long as I don't go over the fence.


Where you live, what you do, who you marry - be someone who seeks God, knows God, honours God, loves God. If that's how you live, c a n  y o u  r e a l l y  g o  w r o n g?