As a college senior I've been giving more thought than ever to what I want to do after this year is over. There have been lots of anxious thoughts and lots of times where I realize that I just don't know what lies ahead around the corner. During these times, I like to remind myself of truths found in scripture such as Phil 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition present your requests to God, and the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard you heart and your mind in Christ Jesus." Remembering verses like this always helps me but what exactly am I suppose to do when I'm anxious? Should I simply recite Bible verses until an job opportunity falls into my lap?

I think the key comes in how to you apply this verse and others like it to your life? I want to look specifically at how we can apply Psalm 37 to our lives because I think it has alot to say about what to do when you're looking to the future.

3 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Psalm 37:4 is quoted all the time in referernce to pursuing ones future. This verse sounds great, I mean I love the idea that if I delight myself in the Lord he will give me what my heart desires but how do I delight myself in him and what are the desires of my heart? I've always had a hard time applying this verse to my life. I've highlighted 5 different lines above that make up the skeleton of Psalms 37:3-7. I want to look at these 5 key ideas by breaking them into 4 applicable points to remember when you're thinking about your future and God's directions for your life.

1. "Trust in the LORD"- When looking towards the future you first of all have to trust in the Lord and the quality of his character. You have to believe that he will be faithful like he has in the past. Can you think of a time when the Lord has left you hanging for no reason? I can't. Romans 8:28 says that "in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and who have been called according to his purpose." A couple things to remember here. This "good" that is promised only applies to those who love Jesus. If you don't have a relationship with him then the Bible doesn't promise that the Lord will always be faithful to you. For those that do, God's promise that "I will never leave you nor forsake you" rings true (Joshua 1:5). We also must remember that the "good" in Romans 8 is according to God's purpsoe ans not our own. The fact that we are guarnteed good doesn't mean that life's going to be a walk in the park but it does mean that it all things we will becoming more and more like Christ, which is God's purpsoe for our lives. First off, Trust God - this refers to our mindset. If we trust God and his provision then we have no need to be anxious and this allows the peace of God to enter our hearts and minds. We can do this because he cares for us (1 Pet 5:7).

2. "Dwell in the land" -This means to stay put where you're at and be okay with it. I once heard it said that the best thing you can do when you are waiting for God's direction is to keep doing the last thing he told you to do. Often times we get so caught up in what's next that we forget about what's right in front of us. Jesus talks about this in Matthew when he says, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself" (6:34). basically Jesus' message is worry about today today and deal with tomorrow when it comes. God has set before each of us things to do today. I am confident that once today is complete he will show us the business we need to be about tomorrow. If you are not sure what kind of thing God has placed before you today, I would be willing to bet that it has somethng to do with furthering His kingdom. Mt 6:33 says, "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things (all the things you are worried about) will be added to you." To share a personal example, I can't be so concerned with my future that I miss out on opportunites to lead my basketball team as a captain, and help start FCA on campus right now. Those are opportunites the Lord has placed before me to do today. The second point- we can't bypass our calling today because we are consumed with what our calling will be tomorrow. Live one day at a time - tomorrow is not guaranteed - let's make the most of today.

3. "Delight yourself in the Lord" and "Commit your ways to the Lord"-Point one deals with our mindset (trust the Lord becasue we know he will provide), the second deals with our priorities (worry about today before we worry about tomorow) and the third point deals with action. It deals with what exactly we are to do while we are in this stage of waiting to see what the future holds. Psalm 37:4 and 5 say "delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit our ways to him, trust in him and he will do this." Are we supposed to sit and twiddle our thumbs waiting for the phone call or knock on the door that will mean our next job has arrived. No way! We are supposed to take action! In order to understand how these two verses fit together I would like to bring in another great verse that talks about the future. Proverbs 16:9 says, "In his heart a man plans his course but the Lord determines his steps." I think that looking to the future does require action. The first action step is identifying the desires of your heart, the second is planning a course and haveing the courage to walk in it, and the third is committing your course to the Lord and knowing that he might direct your steps differently. I'm reading a book right now by Kent Shih called Preparing for a career in Medicine and in that book he talks about how identifying your dreams, desires, gifts, and interests can help determine if a particular career would be a good fit for you. We should seek out things that excite us, that we dream about, that we desire, that we are gifted in and that we are passionate about because these are the desires of our heart. Once we have recognized these things we should pursue them but few do for fear that God might have something else palnned. Psalm 37:5 says again to "trust the Lord." Joshua 1:9 says "be strong and courageous, do not be terrified, do not be dismayed for the Lord your God will be with you whereever you go." I believe the desires of our heart are worth following, worth planning a course by because God gave them to us. You and I have been uniquely created with unique and special desires within our heart. Don't be afraid to follow them. We just have to remember that it's great to make a plan as long as we hold that plan with an open hand. Isaiah 55:8-9 say that he thoughts and ways are higher than ours and He is the one who "gives and takes away". Ultimately God's plan, his way, is the best. Sometimes we have to be okay with modifying the course we had planned out.

4. "Wait patiently for Him"- The last point to remember is short and sweet. "Wait pattiently for Him" "His ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts". His timing is not always our timing either. One of the music professors at Westmont recently shared a story about Mitchell Lurie, one of the best clarinet players of all time. Mitchell attended the Curtis Institute to study Music. His first day of class, after he recited a piece of music perfectly, his Professor and the conductor of the Chicago symphony, shared with him these words...."Mitchell I want you to be the first chair in the Chicago symphony.....(long pause).....but not yet. " Mitchell didn't hear another word from his professor all four years that he was there. On his graduation day he recieved a telegram from his professor with one word on it "Now." Mitchell traveld to Chicago that night and palyed first chair. That was the beginning of an amazing career. Today Mitchell has clarinets and reeds named after him because of all that he has accomplished. There were grea things in store for Mtichell but he had to wait. God has great things in store for us but we must wait as well on the perfect timing of the Lord.