Without God, I Have Nothing Good
“I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.’”
Psalms 16:2, NIV
May 11, 2019, was the date of my college graduation. After six years, I had finally achieved my goal of a degree in Youth Ministry. Yes, you read that right. It took me six years to achieve a bachelor’s degree. You may recall from my last “Daily Word,” I wasn’t the best student. Schoolwork wasn’t my top priority in college, so I took longer than most. Now, this isn’t the focus of my “Daily Word” today, but what happened after graduation is.
When I finished college, I had to figure out what to do next and asked myself many questions: Should I find any type of job and start earning money? Should I follow my girlfriend to Colorado and start a life there? Should I just wait it out and hunt for student ministry jobs? Through all those questions, I realized I wasn’t truly asking the right ones. I kept asking myself what is it that I wanted to do instead of asking God what is it that He wanted me to do.
Before I even asked that question, I was leaning on following my girlfriend to Colorado. We both realized that we needed to ask God what He wanted each of us to do. We set time apart from each other so that we could pursue the question with Him. And in that time with God, I learned of the Hebrew name for Him, Adonai, which means Lord. Some would even call Him “Master.” This hit home for me because it made me realize that I haven’t been truly following God in the decisions of my life. Some could even say I wasn’t being a servant for Him. So, here I was trying to fulfill a call to student ministry, but all on my own, without guidance from my Master or Lord. A month and a half went by before I talked to my girlfriend and when we did, I knew that we had to end our relationship. We both left with peace from the Lord, knowing this was what He wanted.
Then there I was. Staying in Lynchburg, Va., praying and asking guidance from God on where He wanted me to go. I kept leaning into my Adonai and reading His word. The verse He kept drawing me to and one that was paired with my teaching on Adonai, Psalm 16:2, NIV. This verse gave me much comfort in that season of life because I knew that no matter what was happening, I had God, so I had a good thing. Whether I got my dream job, never got a job or just got a job, I was content with just having God.
Today, this outlook continues to apply to all aspects of life. No matter what it is, without God, it’s nothing good. Where in life can you make God your Adonai and have a good thing?
