Dropping In: Experience The Life You Were Meant To LiveSample

Decisions Decisions - Understanding God’s Will

My first big decision as a young adult was deciding where I would attend college. I applied to several universities and ended up deciding between two schools that were near the ocean: The University of California Irvine and The University of California Los Angeles. 

Everyone had an opinion about where I should go, but I was unsure. So, one morning I tossed my surfboard into my small Hyundai hatchback, jumped on the 405 Freeway, and drove to check out both UC Irvine and UCLA. 

I decided I would visit UCLA first. Everything you have ever heard about traffic in Southern California is painfully true—it’s horrible! There are just too many cars in one place, so it’s often more of a parking lot than a freeway. 

When I arrived to UCLA, there was no parking. Thirty minutes later, I gave up. I decided I would drive to the beach and go surfing, then come back for a campus tour. 

At the beach, I again couldn’t find parking. On top of there being no parking spots, there were no waves. This was not how I thought the day would go for me. I drove back to the UCLA campus and still could not find parking. This was getting ridiculous. As I swore under my breath (yes, I was not exactly Christ-like), I found the onramp for the 405 South and drove to UC Irvine. 

Forty-five minutes later, I pulled into a parking spot on the campus of UC Irvine—without even looking for one. The campus was quiet and beautiful. I walked around a large park and ended up crossing a bridge to what could quite possibly be what we will eat for lunch in heaven: In and Out Burger! 

I drove to Newport Beach, near campus, and went surfing. The waves were incredible. As the sun set over the Pacific, I thought more of where God wanted me to go to college. I knew where I wanted to go to college, but was it where God wanted me to go to college? 

I chose UC Irvine. I learned something about God’s will that year - God gives us general direction. The Bible is a relational book that helps us grow in a friendship with him. God is most concerned with how we are following him; the rest of life should follow this relationship.