A Letter To Graduates

                                                —by Chris Stinnett

 

Congratulations! You’ve achieved a very important milestone in your life—and we hope and pray that there will be many more in your future. In all the excitement you might also feel a little bit lost and unsure what happens next.

            For about 75% of your lifetime, your world has revolved around school. Your daily schedule, your diet, your recreation time, your clothing, your friends and your activities were all determined by your time in school. And one day you woke up and went to school and they said, “Congratulations! You’re done! Get out!”

            Your teachers still like you, the administration is still proud of you, younger students still look up to you—and nobody wants you back. You’re not welcome in Spanish class. You’re not allowed to stalk the sidelines at the football games or hang around the basketball practices. Your band uniform has been cleaned and reissued. You’re not in high school anymore; you’ve moved on.

            You probably have more training ahead of you. You might have enrolled in a university. You might be starting an apprenticeship program. You might enter military service. All of those are new beginnings that will take you in a direction different from your school friends. The bonds that held you to your childhood home are loosening. It’s getting hard to know what is permanent and who is still in your life.

            Certainly your family will continue to be important for the rest of your life. They may not be nearby, though, if work or school or service takes you away. It can start to seem awfully lonely, but there is always one who will be with you.

            One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city” (Acts 18:9-10 NIV).

            Paul had traveled to a tough waterfront city: Corinth. To this point, the trip had been terrible: beaten in Philippi, chased out of Thessalonica and Berea, laughed-at in Athens. Now he’s all alone in a bad neighborhood.

            But he wasn’t alone. The Lord said, “I am with you.” And Paul knew that every time God said “I am with you,” everything turned out right. He said it to Abraham, to Moses, to Joshua and others—and it was always OK. And with Paul it was OK. He stayed in Corinth for 18 months and had real success teaching the gospel among those waterfront thugs. In fact, the whole world was changed by his work there.

            Now you’re facing some difficult adjustments and doubtless there will be some confusing and lonely times ahead. You might feel alone and abandoned. But you’re not. Jesus said, “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). It will be OK.

            Congratulations again, and may God be with you—and you with Him.