Sarah Young - Jesus Calling for Graduates, with Scripture References

Jesus Calling for Graduates

2004, 2016 Sarah Young

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Other Scripture quotations are from the following sources:

The King James Version (KJV). The Message (MSG). Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. The New King James Version (NKJV). Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The New American Standard Bible (NASB), Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. The Amplified Bible (AMP), Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA. All rights reserved. Used by permission. www.lockman.org.

ISBN 978-0-7180-9008-1 (eBook)

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Contents

Dear Graduate,

Congratulations on your accomplishment! I hope you are able to savor this moment in your lifethis moment in time that is full of celebration and anticipation of new beginnings.

You might be moving away for the first time, going to college, starting a new job, or perhaps doing all three. Whatever journey you find yourself about to embark on, I would like to share some truths I have carried with me on my own journeys.

No matter what season of life we find ourselves in, we can rest in the knowledge that Jesus is our constant. When changes swirl around us, we can trust that He is the light that shows us the way and the love that never lets us go. Hebrews 13:8 reminds us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. What a wonderful encouragement to know that our Savior never changes!

I have found that the more connected I am to Jesus, the more peaceful and content I can be. As you are meeting new people, rising to new challenges, and making many decisions on your own, you need more than ever to stay connected to Him. I hope that this book will remind you Whom to seek when you need guidance, Whom to cling to when you need hope, and Whose presence is with you continually.

Stay faithful in prayer and grounded in biblical truth. May the Lord bless you and keep you close to Him as you set out on the adventure before you.

Beautiful blessings!

Sarah Young

Jesus Calling

I FIRST EXPERIENCED THE PRESENCE OF GOD in a setting of exquisite beauty. I was studying at a Christian community in a tiny Alpine village in France. This was a branch of LAbri, an international ministry that began in Switzerland through Francis and Edith Schaeffers work. During my stay at LAbri, I often explored the fairyland-like environment all around me. It was late winter, and the noonday sun was warm enough for sunbathing, but the depth of the snow kept it from melting. Brilliant sunlight reflecting from pure white snow was cleansing my mind of the darkness that had held it captive for years.

Every day I climbed up a steep hill to attain a view that delighted my soul. As I stood at the top, I would lose myself in a panorama of unbroken beauty. Below me was the village that had become my home. Viewed from this height, the village was dominated by a high-steepled church. Turning 180 degrees, I could see Lake Geneva far below me, shouting greetings in refracted sunbeams. When I looked up, I saw icy tips of Alpine mountains encircling me. I would turn round and round, absorbing as much as I could with two eyes and a finite mind.

The daughter of a college professor, I had been encouraged to read widely and think for myself. I had majored in philosophy at Wellesley College and had almost completed my masters degree in child development at Tufts University. A few months earlier, my brother had asked me to read Francis Schaeffers Escape from Reason. To my great surprise and delight, that small book had answered questions Id long before dismissed as unanswerable. It was the intellectual integrity of Schaeffers books that had drawn me to this pristine place. I was searching for absolute, unchanging trutha foundation on which to build my life.

Shortly after I settled into the home I shared with other students, I met a gifted counselor who had come from the Swiss branch of LAbri to talk with some of us. I went into the room where she was waiting, and she told me to close the door. Before I even had time to sit down, she asked her first question: Are you a Christian? I answered that I wasnt sure; I wanted to be a Christian, but I didnt really understand why I needed Jesus. I thought that knowing God might be enough. Her second question was: What can you not forgive yourself for? This question brought me face to face with my sinfulness, and immediately I understood my need for Jesusto save me from my many sins. Later, when I was alone, I asked Him to forgive all my sins and to be my Savior-God.

One night I found myself leaving the warmth of our cozy chalet to walk alone in the snowy mountains. I went into a deeply wooded area, feeling vulnerable and awed by cold, moonlit beauty. The air was crisp and dry, piercing to inhale. After a while, I came into an open area and I stopped walking. Time seemed to stand still as I gazed around me in wondersoaking in the beauty of this place. Suddenly I became aware of a lovely Presence with me, and my involuntary response was to whisper, Sweet Jesus. This experience of Jesus Presence was far more personal than the intellectual answers for which Id been searching. This was a relationship with the Creator of the universethe One who is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6 NKJV).

The following year, back in the United States, I had another encounter with the Presence of Jesus. I was grieving the loss of a serious dating relationship and wondering whether being a Christian made much difference in the quality of my life.

At that time I was working as a technical writer in Virginia. My boss sent me to Atlanta to attend a conference. I accepted this assignment dutifully and checked into the hotel without enthusiasm. Alone in my room, I felt waves of desolation wash over me. So I began walking the streets of Atlanta aimlessly, trying to escape my solitude. I glanced at some books in an outdoor stall and was drawn to Beyond Ourselves by Catherine Marshall. That night, as I read the book, I no longer felt alone. I knelt beside the bed in that sterile room and felt an overwhelming Presence of peace and love come over me. I knew that Jesus was with me and that He sympathized with my heartache. This was unquestionably the same Sweet Jesus I had encountered in the snowy splendor of the Alps.

During the next sixteen years, I lived what many people might consider an exemplary Christian life. I went to Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, where I earned a masters degree in counseling and biblical studies. While there, I met my husband, Steve, a third-generation missionary to Japan. After graduation, we spent two four-year terms in Japan doing church-planting ministry. We had a baby girl during our first term and a baby boy during our furlough in the United States. After our second term, we returned to the US for three years. We lived in Atlanta, where Steve worked with a local Japanese church and I earned a further degree in counseling at Georgia State University.