You just finished high school or college, and now you find yourself asking, “What does God want me to do with my life?”

It’s a daunting question, because there are so many potential answers. Should you move to a new city? Should you go on a mission trip? Should you get a job and start being financially independent? It would be so much easier if God would just give each person specific instructions.

An Encompass mobilizer once said, “When I used to meet recruits, they would often feel like they had to have their whole lives planned out. They were hyper-sensitive to God’s will for their lives.” 

His advice to his recruits was always to just focus on taking the best next step. You don’t have to worry about where you’ll be 30 years from now—just focus on your immediate situation and take the best next step you can. 

Our retiring global workers, Dave and Susie, agree. Their advice for the next generation is, “Say yes to the steps God provides you with, and He’ll show you the next step from there. God will lead you. We don’t need to have the whole picture.” 

And that’s what they did in their lives. When they first started out, they heard about a need in France and just said “Why not?” They just kept taking steps and asking God to show them what to do next.

Not everyone ends up serving on the mission field for 40 years like Dave and Susie. Dave points out that sometimes when you take the next step toward something, God will close that door—and that is also a form of progress. He says, “You might say ‘I could see myself doing this,’ or ‘I can’t see myself here at all,’ and that’s just as useful.”

Our mobilizer also said, “None of my recruits who took a risk ever regretted it. All of them who went on a vision trip or internship said it was a life-changing experience.” And Dave adds, “Take the opportunity to go on the trip and see where God leads. We’re all called to serve Him, but many will end up staying home. Will you be one of the few who He uses in a spiritually needy place like France?”

 God, I trust you with my future. Please show me what Your next step is for my life.