Dealing With College and Career Worries

I learned a lot my senior year of high school—a lot about dealing with stress and worry and turning it over to God.

I thought my senior year of high school would be easy. That turned out to be completely wrong. To sum up the year, it was hard, stressful, demanding, nerve-racking, enjoyable, exciting, moving and thrilling. However, senior year was anything but easy.

As with many other seniors, my year began with the typical question, “So what am I going to do with the rest of my life?” After some research, I found that, ultimately, I would love to become a physician assistant. It is in the medical field, and that is somewhere I have always wanted to be. But I did not know what I was getting myself into.

I found out I was accepted to the college of my choice in October of 2010, but that was the “easy part.” I still had to get accepted into the physician assistant program. This program in particular selects about 1 percent of applicants. By looking at that number, I was nervous and extremely doubtful.

Obsessing

Over next few months, I spent hours dwelling on that number. I spent late nights in bed thinking about how much I wanted to be there. All I wanted was to be a physician assistant. However, it took some time and some words of advice for me to realize what I was doing wrong.

My mother was the one to give me initial advice, which truly set the rest of this process in motion. She told me that I was not to make an idol out of this program. Immediately I thought of Exodus 20, where the Ten Commandments instruct us to only have one God. My mom’s wise words showed me how much I really was dwelling on this program.

So then I had another problem: How do I get my problem out of my head?

God wants to worry for us

I was listening to a sermon, and the minister began to speak about why God wants to worry for us. (Of course, God is all-powerful, so He has no reason to actually worry. Letting Him do the worrying really means we’re putting the problem in His hands in faith that He will produce the right outcome.) I began to look into it further, and it turned out it was exactly what I needed to hear.

Jesus Christ tells us to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Furthermore, He explains the part which related to my situation. He said, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (verse 34).

Christ specifically states here how we are not to worry; God is more than willing to take care of things on His own.

It became part of my duty to let God take my worries about this. It was dependent on daily prayer and Bible study. Prayer became necessary to draw close to God in order to have faith that He will take care of this issue. Meanwhile, the Bible study reminded me how Scripture backs up this idea.

My interview

The day came for my interview. Despite the butterflies in my stomach, I knew that I had done my best, and I put it in God’s hands.

Only a few days later, a letter came in the mail. I opened it, and as I read “Congratulations!” I thanked God. I had been accepted to the physician assistant program, and I felt God was blessing my efforts.

God’s encouragement

Now that I am in the midst of my freshman year of college, letting God take care of my worries is still necessary. Tests, papers and presentations pile up, and I know from Matthew 6 that I can’t let those things come before God. Also, I know that God can help me through this program.

Philippians 4:13 reminds me that “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Also, Ecclesiastes 9:10 teaches us that we are to work as hard as we possibly can. This encouragement keeps me going in college.

God’s encouragement is everywhere in the Bible. Looking back in Matthew 6, there are some very reassuring ideas. Christ instructs us to “look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:26). If God cares for the sparrows, surely He will do more for us.

Also, Philippians 4:19 explains, “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

God will supply our needs. Letting God take care of our worries about our trials can take a load off of our shoulders.

There are so many worries and stresses in the world—especially for young people. Don’t let that pressure build up too much. Take a deep breath, relax and give your worries to God.

Ashley Holl is currently a freshman at Seton Hill University studying to become a physician assistant. She attends the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, congregation.

For more about dealing with worries, see:

• The Problem With Worry
• Four Enemies of Faith
• “Casting All Your Care Upon Him”