One of the strange aspects of modern higher education is that students graduating high school are expected to know what occupation they want to pursue. This is strange because high school students have generally not had the kinds of experiences that could help them discover what occupation they are suited for. In light of this lack of experience, students are left with introspection and best guesses. 

I know from experience how faulty introspection can be in determining one’s giftings. In High School, we had to pick a job we think we would want to do. We were given a catalog of possible occupations to research. I chose industrial design. Knowing what I know about myself now, I couldn’t have picked a more ill-suited profession. The problem was my two-fold lack of knowledge. First, I understood little about what that occupation actually required. I simply imagined what the day-to-day work would be like. More importantly, I lacked the knowledge of myself. 

Thankfully, I chose not to pursue a degree in industrial design. At Bible college, I got to have the kind of experiences that helped me fill in the gaps in my knowledge. These gaps were filled in by God’s word and opportunities for service. In one instance, I got the opportunity to be a tutor for students who were struggling with Hebrew, a subject matter that I excelled in. I met the student at the college coffee shop and worked through exercises in our Hebrew textbook. The student was behind, and so working through the exercises meant lots of backtracking and repetition. After we had finished the tutoring session, a friend came up to me and said with a look of awe, “how did you do that?” I had no idea what he meant. “How did you have the patience to do that? I would have lost my mind.” As I reflected on the experience, I realized that not only did I have the patience to teach, I enjoyed the challenge of breaking down the subject matter into smaller and more easily understood steps. 

Without that experience of service and the mirror of my friend’s observation, I would have never discovered the potential that God had built into my person. Another key ingredient was learning God’s word. Hebrews tells us that God’s word is “ living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb 4:12). We are complicated beings, and often our greatest gifts can also be wrapped up with our greatest faults. We need God’s word to help us sort ourselves out. 

My patience in learning and teaching – the desire to break down a subject matter to its smallest components – was a great gift. But without God’s word, it might have led down a standard path of academic achievement. It was through God’s word, specifically through further education at the Institute, that I recognized other parts of myself that needed further development. God’s word was able to cut away negative tendencies while leaving the good in me intact. 

If you are uncertain about your major, you shouldn’t be surprised. Few graduating high school students have a clear idea of what they should do. In my experience, you need to seek out three components to help you discover who God made you to be. First, you need an education in God’s word that can help develop your giftings. Second, you need opportunities to serve in a variety of ways, so that you can discover what you are good at. Third, you need a community of people that can help reflect back to you what they see. 

Don’t found your life on a hunch. The good news is that we are “God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.” God has a plan for us, but we need to give him time to work on us so that we can discover what that is.