Quit Shoulding Yourself

For about the past month, I have been pretty anxious about my future. With the debacle I shared in my last blog, I haven't known what I am going to do for the next year while I continue to look for school counseling jobs. I had options in mind, but here's what I knew. 

I should get a job that pays well.

I should find a job that is going to give me benefits.

I should get a job, no matter what. It doesn't matter if I absolutely despise it as long as I can pay my student loans.

I should make rational, worldly choices about this.     

I've been having what seems like an ongoing conversation about this for a month now with several different people. Some of this conversation has been from extremely unlikely sources. A new friend I have talked to almost every day for the past month, a college friend, and a person I had met 5 minutes prior to having this conversation. 

The gist of this conversation comes down to this: 

1) Don't freak out about the future. It doesn't help anything.

2) Use your God-given gifts to pursue what you are passionate about. 

3) Work hard to get where God wants you, but do not sit around waiting for it to be handed to you. 

This is where "shoulding" comes in. (Thanks to the friend who came up with this term.) 

So often, we get so caught up in what we should be doing. We should be getting a good job. We should be looking for that one person to spend the rest of life with. We should work out in the morning because... We should be making sure life is comfortable by having enough money, material possessions, perfect routine, etc. so we don't have to worry about how we are going to do this or that. We should be doing all of these things to become successful in others' eyes. 

We are missing the point.  

The only thing that truly matters is what we do that is glorifying to God and is helping others to come to know Him. He doesn't care about the "shoulds". 

The "shoulding" we do is pointless. Worthless. Most of the time, these "shoulds" are out of obligation to other people, responsibilities (bills and such), and comfort. They are typically not out of a heart for serving and glorifying God.

We need to learn to quit "shoulding" ourselves and learn to follow God. We have become so comfortable making decisions for ourselves, we don't think that God needs to have a say in what we're doing with our lives. If I'm prosperous, God's happy with that, right? Ya, he may be happy, but that doesn't mean we're doing what is most pleasing to Him. 

I'm pretty sure that, as evidenced by the Bible, God could care less about how much we have or how prosperous we are. He wants us to live a life that is bringing others to Him. Material possessions aren't needed for that. In fact, the rich young ruler was told to sell all of his material possessions in order to inherit the Kingdom. He couldn't understand God's will with everything else clouding his vision. 

We have to get past caring what other people think of us and the "shoulds" in life and focus more on what is pleasing and glorifying to God. 

If God has given you a heart and passion for something and is calling you to it, do you not believe He is going to provide for you in the midst of you following His call?

QUIT SHOULDING YOURSELF! 

What are you doing strictly because you "should"?