Trusting God with Your Life

Life is an epic journey. It is a gift given to us by God. Just like every journey we see in books or movies, there are joys, suffering, obstacles, great adventure, tragedy, and great romance. As someone who liked to be in control of her own life, I’m here to tell you the great joy that comes from trusting God with your life. Not just with your faith life, but with all aspects of life.

Christ died for us, and even if it was just you on this earth, He would have died for you. You want to know what true love looks like? Just look at the cross. For many years, Christ was reaching out His hand and had plans for me that He knew would be greater than I could ever imagine, but I didn’t want to lose control of my life. I wanted to choose my friends, my relationships, my career, and the way of my life. I valued status, power, pleasure, and wealth. I cared more about pleasing others than Christ. I lost sight of the little girl who would tell her mom on the way to church that she wanted to be a saint. The patron saint of adoption.

I was miserable because I realized the sad reality of this culture. When you fall into the trap that your worth is determined by worldly things, it is easy to feel worthless. When you place your worth in things that are constantly changing such as status, wealth, pleasure, and power you find that there is always someone better. This cycle is a good way to feel disappointed and dissatisfied with your life.

When I did things my own way, I found that I didn’t have people in my life who cared about my well-being. I didn’t feel useful and I felt very sad. Christ saw my heart and knew my struggles. He paved a way for me. It was painful at first. I lost many of my friends, I experienced heartache, and I had no idea what career path I was going to follow. Christ through this pain and anxiety slowly started to bring me friends who were Christ-centered. Friends who changed my life. They brought me to confession and the sacraments. They showed me that true friends care about your soul. Around this time, I began classes for a youth ministry minor. I absolutely fell in love with youth ministry. I also learned about the Surrender Novena which is a prayer about placing your intentions in Christ’s hands. After praying this, my life was forever changed.

I gave up control of my life and beautiful things started to happen. I gained true friends who loved and were selfless toward me, which made me more selfless. I grew closer to my family and spent more time with them. I grew in my faith. I spent time with Christ in adoration, the sacraments, prayer, and devotionals. I was joy-filled. It was revealed to me that my worth does not come from my status or who likes me, but rather is something that is there because I am created in Christ’s image. Nothing and no one can take away my worth.

I am now a high school youth minister filled with so much joy. When I surrendered my life to Christ, he showed me a career where I can use the gifts, He has given me and feel fulfilled because it is part of God’s plan for my life.

If I can leave you with one thought it is this: when you trust in God’s plan for your life and surrender your life to Him, there is a joy in your life that is unimaginable. Through joys and sorrows, Christ will have your back. All you must do is trust Him.