Are you ready for Graduation?

During this time of year, many seniors are having their “lasts”. Their last football game, their last prom, their last yearbook signing, and most importantly their last exam, better known as a final exam. This time is often bittersweet as seniors are looking forward to their future endeavors, but also reminiscing on what will soon be a memory in their past.

Graduation day is something students look forward to throughout their four years of school, but by the time they become seniors, they nearly yearn for new opportunities, adventures, and a level of freedom they haven’t yet attained.

We believe the body of Christ has been yearning for a new season also. We desire a move of God like never before. A fresh wind to carry us forward. Some of us have waited and waited, for things to change, for a shift to take place, and we believe it is finally here. The hour has come where God is rebuilding and re-establishing. He is removing and repositioning people for times such as these. The hour has come, where the few will be chosen. Those who have cultivated the ground and stewarded well over the seeds. Those who have studied and have shown themselves approved (2 Timothy 2:15).  Are you ready for graduation?

Like seniors, we too become excited for the next. “I’m so ready for this”, we might say. But just before seniors crossover the stage and are handed a ticket symbolizing their readiness, they must first endure the final exam. 

We can compare the final exam to the pruning of fruit or the refiner's fire. It is something that needs to happen and something we ought to prepare for. There will be a designated time where God will allow for temptation and trial, not to destroy you, but to deploy you:

“If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” 1 Corinthians 10:12-13

Don’t consider it strange when you are tested. It will come, if it hasn’t already. In 1 Corinthians 10:13, we see God will show us the way to endure temptation, meaning he knows we are capable of passing the test. In times of difficulty, understand that God is with you. He desires for you to succeed, applying what he’s taught you (Jeremiah 29:11). There is a new level awaiting and with every step forward, the old diminishes. It will be like a tug of war in our hearts, between the uncertainty of new and the comfortability of old. It will be a “remember Lot’s wife” moment (Genesis 19:26, Luke 17:32).

We cannot cling to what was, whether it be old habits, mindsets, or ideals. As long as we do, we will never grab hold of or step into what God has for us. We must take up our cross and follow Jesus, whenever and wherever he leads. As we endure the “final exam”, let us not lean on our own understanding, but perceive the new thing He is doing:

“But forget all that— it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?  will make a pathway through the wilderness.  I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” Isaiah 43:18-19