Straight Paths - by Brie White

As a 24-year-old master’s degree student who loves God as well the academic program I am now pursuing, I have a lot on my plate. At the same time, I am so grateful that God has brought me to this point. Getting here, however, has not been easy nor a perfect path. When I graduated with my bachelor’s degree in Social Work, I knew I wanted to get my master’s degree as soon as possible. Receiving my bachelor’s degree was such an incredible moment for me because I overcame several academic struggles. I was proud of the achievement, and yet, it included a lower than ‘required’ GPA for the master’s program I wanted to pursue. As I started applying for my master’s, I became very fearful and insecure as I wondered about rejection because of the GPA issue. What would happen if they like me but reject me for the program because I didn’t have perfect straight A’s? I battled in my head between believing I can do great in the program, yet, doubting myself and God’s ability to take care of me.

I first put in the effort to apply as I battled the doubts. The application process entailed three letters of recommendation, two essays, an in-person interview, and the application itself. It was stressful for me because I wanted everything to be perfect and to give them no reason to reject me. But what about God? What about my walk with Him and the purpose He has for me? Through the process of applying, I came upon the second critical thing which was trusting in God. While waiting to hear back from the school, I came across Proverbs 3:5-6, which says, “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight.” This scripture completely opened my eyes. I realized that I didn’t need to feel insecure or doubtful. I didn’t need to question what my path was going to be. God already knows. He wants me to focus on Him, and He will design my way for me. Once I discovered that scripture, I have read it every day since. God taught me to trust him and be content in any circumstance or outcome. I prayed over and over again, “God, help, me to be content and give me joy no matter what.”

In the end, God created my path. He made it clear. I was accepted into a one-year advanced track master’s degree program in Social Work to fulfill my dream of doing therapy with youth who deal with mental health and trauma. I learned that it’s not about always getting what we want. It’s about trusting God to know what we need, and although sometimes His path lines up with ours, it’s what we do with it that matters. It took a year for this path to become visible. It took prayer and persistence to see God move and open this door for me.

Currently, I just finished my summer semester and am getting ready to start the fall semester. I continue to see God working to show me my path. An organization hired me for an internship that I believe was again, orchestrated by God. But through the process of applying for internships, I started to doubt again and take back control. I once again read Proverbs 3:5-6 and submitted to God. As I worked through this and the process of applications and interviews, I was excited to be hired by my first-choice position. My supervisor is amazing, passionate about what she does, graduated from my exact program at the same school, and is keen to support me on this journey.  I believe God knows what he is doing. Period. He makes my path straight.

Lastly, God did not get me to this point so that I could live for myself. He gave me this opportunity to not only fulfill my dream career, but to build His kingdom, to reach my classmates and my co-workers with the gospel by showing them who God is and how good He is. God is my straight path.