Transitions: Oh, The Places You’ll Go?

by Josh Liu

“I didn’t know how difficult life would be after college,” a college graduate confessed to me. “It’s really lonely. I’m depressed and confused about what to do with my life.” A significant amount of post-college persons experience the hard-wall of reality of life after college, and struggle immensely. Understandably so, the transition to post-college life can be tumultuous, confusing, chaotic, wearisome, discouraging, and monotonous.

Christians and non-Christians alike are concerned. This particular season of life is in the middle of what some have labeled as “emerging adulthood” (I’ve also heard “twenty-somethings,” “youthhood,” “adultolescense,” “extended adolescence,” “black box”). Regardless of the label, most are familiar with this “stage of life.” Many collegians are warned about “life to come;” many don’t understand it until it’s too late. Some collegians aren’t even aware of it and slip into a lukewarm, routine lifestyle that is for the most part God-less. The vibrant, social, available, adventurous, care-free college life is rudely removed. Instead, it is replaced with expectations and responsibilities (i.e. get a job, set a career, get married, buy a home, pay off loans, etc.). In response, many graduates step into spiritual depression; they feel isolated and lonely; they fantasize about the good ol’ college days; they want to take a “gap year” to really experience life before succumbing to the ball and chain of “real life;” they throw aside the spiritual passion and discipline they once had during college to study the Bible and pray, to serve others and the church, and to evangelize and witness.

This is symptomatic of deeper, significant issues, related to identity in Christ, spiritual maturity and character, and idolatry of a distorted youth life stage. I am particularly concerned that so many appear shell-shocked after briefly experiencing post-college life. I am particularly concerned that many have confessed that they don’t know what to do or how to respond, or that they weren’t prepared during college. I am particularly concerned that many have allowed the circumstances of life to dictate how they think, feel, and act.

As I personally experience some challenging transitions (stepping out from children’s and youth ministries, and stepping into college ministry and my final year in seminary), I want to take this opportunity to encourage all those going through difficult transitions. A comprehensive analysis and response to delayed maturing, the above described experiences, and the related significant spiritual issues are outside the scope of this article. Instead, I want to remind you of six biblical principles to carry with you in every circumstance or transition:

1. Plan on the sovereignty of God.

God is intimately involved in your life. Consider David’s words in Psalm 139:1-16.
He knows your entire person, and each moment of your life. Behold His omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, immanence, and magnificence! Take your eyes off yourself, off the circumstances, off the unknowable future, and wholly entrust yourself to God your Creator and Sustainer.

Know that God is ultimately directing your life (Prov. 16:9; cf. 16:1; 19:21; 20:24; Jer. 10:23). God’s sovereignty (control, leading, authority, will) over individuals’ lives and actions is readily seen throughout Scripture. This is seen in Joseph’s life (Gen. 50:20), the nation of Israel (Jer. 29:11), Paul’s life (Acts 9:15-16; 16:6), and the believer’s life (Rom. 8:28).

As a result, plan and live your life out of dependence on the sovereignty of God.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” (James 4:13-15)

2. Pursue Christ first.

Wherever God leads you, whatever circumstance He places in your life, and however you’re feeling in the moment, pursue Christ vehemently. Seek to deepen your intimacy with Christ through intentional prayer, Bible study, Scripture memorization and meditation, serving others, and fellowship with Christ’s body.

Don’t let anything or anyone else displace the centrality of Christ in your life. Be able to say with Paul,

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ…Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 3:7-8, 12-14)

Friendships, interests, careers, and personal feelings of usefulness can become idols if you do not pursue Christ first. When Christ is central in your life, when He is your first priority, when He is your greatest treasure, the present trials and circumstances of life fade in light of the great glory of Christ and eternity with Him (cf. behold Christ in Col. 1:13-18 and Heb. 1:3-4).

3. Preoccupy yourself with faithfulness.

The Christian isn’t called to achieve the life milestones that the world expects (begin a career, get married, buy a home, etc.). Don’t be busy with the things of this world that will ultimately fade, but be busy with what God has commanded. Seek to steward your life, time, energy, and resources to fulfilling what God has directed believers to be busy with here on this earth (cf. Matt. 25:14-30). How will you seek to be faithful with the life that God has graced you?

  • Are you being faithful to making disciples (Matt. 28:18-20; Titus 2:4, 6; 2 Tim. 2:2)?
  • Are you being faithful to pursuing godliness (1 Thess. 4:3-4; Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:5)?
  • Are you being faithful to serving the body of Christ (Rom. 12:1-21; Eph. 4:1ff; Heb. 10:25)?
  • Are you being faithful to witnessing (Acts 1:8)?
  • Are you being faithful in your relationships (Eph. 5:22-6:9)?

4. Prioritize godliness.

As you seek to pursue Christ and live for Him, be concerned with personal godliness and character. Since God is holy, His people are called to be holy (cf. Ps. 15:1-5; 1 Pet. 1:14-15). In deepening intimacy with Christ, how are you growing in personal holiness and spiritual maturity?

Can you say with the psalmist in Psalm 119:9-11,

How can a young man keep his way pure?
By keeping it according to Your word.
With all my heart I have sought You;
Do not let me wander from Your commandments.
Your word I have treasured in my heart,
That I may not sin against You.

Seek to walk by the Spirit to be filled with the Spirit, and so produce the fruit of the Spirit (Rom. 8:13-14; Eph. 5:18; gal. 5:16-25).

Are you practicing (and growing in) Spirit-led love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? Or, are you prioritizing a stronger GPA, a more impressive résumé, accumulating academic or work experience, or attending life workshops? These are not evil or wrong, but are often exalted to highest priorities, which may contribute to the experience of spiritual trials in transitions.

5. Preach to yourself.

Do not allow your emotions, feelings, or fantasies dictate how you think or act. You may understandably experience depressive emotions or struggle with despondency/despair. Similar to circumstances, your emotions do not dictate the truths of Scripture. If you do not actively fill your mind with the truth of Scripture, you may spiral downward in your own false and condemning thoughts, and respond sinfully (e.g. laziness).

Seek to renew your mind (cf. Rom. 12:2; Phil. 4:8; Col. 3:16). Capture every thought for Christ (cf. 2 Cor. 10:5). Remind yourself of the gospel of Christ that has secured for you eternal hope, in which you eagerly await for Christ’s return. Reading Ephesians 1-3 can be helpful!

6. Persevere with patience.

Life circumstances and transitions are merely earthly seasons of life. They will eventually pass. They do not compare with the glory and duration of eternity, of the life to come with Christ. Remember Paul’s encouragement in 2 Cor. 4:16-18,

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Remember that all that God leads you through is under His sovereignty. It all fits in His eternal purposes and plans. Persevere knowing that God is using you, your life, even tumultuous transitions, for His Kingdom and for your sanctification (cf. Gen. 50:20; James 1:2-4; 1 Pet. 1:6-9).

Indeed, transitions can be difficult. Thankfully, God has instructed us on how to live for Him in all circumstances.

I suggest the following supplemental resources: