A Commencement Address

I've been asked to be the commencement speaker at a graduation tonight for a local Christian School. Today I'm posting that address because, while it ministers to the graduate, I sincerely believe that it will also minister to your life.

I want to congratulate our graduate tonight. I celebrate, with you, the fact that you have completed a portion of your life. You have achieved an accomplishment of great value. As you receive your diploma, tonight, you can stand proud in the fact that you have finished something. You have completed the course. It has been a year of new beginnings, a year where you became both a charter member and a graduate of a newly reborn school. It is fitting that, in this year of new things, you are embarking on a new phase of your life.

As you close the door on High School, a door swings open to the rest of your life. Until now, your steps have been mandated by others. Until now, you had no real choices about what school you would attend or what field you would study. However, you are now starting a new era in your life. Moving forward you will be faced with many decisions. A whole world of possibilities is opening up before you. My friend, this evening we are standing on the horizon of your future.

It is a future that will largely be shaped by you. Your decisions, your choices, your work ethic, these are the things that will shape your future. I’m certain, tonight, that, from your point of view, the future looks good. I’m sure that you have high hopes and big dreams for yourself. I want you to know that I believe in you, the people gathered here tonight believe in you. We believe that you can change the world. We believe that your life can make a difference in this world. We hope with you for great things, amazing accomplishments, and a secure future.

However as we stand here together and gaze into the brilliant future that stands before you I want to share a little reality with you. As bright as the future looks right now, I can tell you with certainty that there will be dark days ahead. As inviting as it is now, I know from experience that somewhere over the horizon there is a storm brewing that will endeavor to destroy you. I wish I could tell you that, after High School, the rest of your life is a bed of roses, but it isn’t. I wish I could tell you that it will all be sunshine and smiles, but it won’t. Just as surely as I’m standing here right now life is gonna throw you a curveball or two.

There are going to be moments that try your faith, trials that dim your spirit, and struggles that sap your strength. I don’t mean to be the herald of bad news and it isn’t my purpose tonight to simply rain on your parade. I want you to know that there will be discouraging times ahead because I have a word from the Lord tonight that will help carry you through those times. When life is tiring, when you are struggling with your flesh, when bills aren't paid, when work is exhausting, when life is demanding, and when the future becomes unsure, I want you to remember this night. I want you to remember a commencement speaker that shared a special verse of scripture with you.

In Jeremiah 29:11 the Lord declared (ESV) "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." I want you to know this evening that God has plans for you. He has a plan for your life. This is the message that I need to convey to you tonight. Your life isn’t at the whim of circumstance and chance. Your future isn’t going to be determined by the economy or political situations. Certainly these are difficult times and it is likely that their impact will last many years, however, God has placed you here, at this time in your life, in this current climate for a reason.

Tonight, you’ve got to understand this. Your life isn’t governed by random circumstance. God has a plan for you and you can trust in his plan. His plan is to bless you. His plan is to prosper you. His plan may lead through some difficult valleys. His plan may take you through some turbulent storms. But his plan is for your good. His plan is to give you hope and a future. His plan is to take you where you truly need to go.

God has a plan for your life. It is this simple knowledge that gives the ability to trust the Lord and walk where he leads. Perhaps that's why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:7 that "we walk by faith, not by sight." Because, if we understand that God has a plan for our lives, then we also understand that we can’t always trust what we see and understand. Sometimes God's plan is going to take us in directions that, if we heeded our own understanding, we would never choose to go. Sometimes he's going to lead us into things that we, according to our own understanding, would do all that we could to avoid. However, the simple truth of the matter is that the road that leads us into God's plan for our lives will sometimes lead us through dry wells and barren wildernesses.

The only way to survive the journey is to learn that you can trust in the Lord. Tonight, as one who has walked this road a few years before you, I want to encourage you tonight with this simple truth, God has a plan for your life and you can trust his plan! His plan is to prosper you, not to harm you. His plan is to give you hope and a future. This, above all else, is the message you need to get tonight. You need to settle it in your heart. No matter what you face, no matter where this life takes you. God has a plan for you!

In light of that simple truth I want to give you a few pieces of instruction to help you stick with God’s plan for your life. First, understanding that your life is ordered by God’s divine plan, if you are going to follow that plan then you must know and love God. My first piece of advice for your journey is this: Get to know God. Get closer to him than you’ve ever been. As you grow older and walk through more difficult times your relationship with God is going to become increasingly important to you, nurture it now. Develop a relationship with him and a love for him because the faith that allows you to trust in his plan for your life springs from your relationship with him.

Secondly, worship God. The main thing that you will do in heaven is worship God. I truly believe that you need to get in the habit of practicing while you are down here. Don’t let life get in your way, don’t let yourself get too busy to worship. And remember this, worship is more than what we do on Sunday mornings. It’s more than music, the message and prayers. Worship is an on-going relationship with God. It’s a lifestyle, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Whatever you plan on becoming after tonight, first and foremost, make it a point to become a worshiper. Remember this, God will move heaven and earth for a worshiper. And there are going to be times when you need him to do just that.

Third. Make church a major priority in your life. Many young people come to the place where you are now and discard their faith. In so doing they walk away from more than just the support structure of the church, they abandon God’s plan for their life as well. Many new things are going to be coming your way in the coming weeks and months. You are going to embrace new decisions and a new direction for your life. But, whatever you do, don’t relinquish your place in the church. You will need the fellowship of the body of Christ along the way. It may not seem so important right now but, mark my words, the day will come when your relationship with the church will be the thing that carries you through dark storms.

Part of God’s plan for your life is to make you a part of his family. His family, in this current world, is embodied in the church. Make yourself a part of a church family. Make the church a central part of your life. Become active in your local fellowship. This is important because you were never meant to go through life alone. Someone got it right, years ago, when they said that no man is an island. No man can make it alone. So God created a spiritual family. The church is a major part off God’s plan for our world and it is a major part of his plan for your life. Become an active part of it. Your spiritual family will not supplant your natural family but it will compel you and carry you through places where your natural family will not be able to go with you.

Finally, as you make choices that will impact your future determine to find God’s purpose for your life. This is the most important thing that you will do because it’s the source of true contentment in this life. There is nothing quite like knowing that you are walking in God’s will for your life. This happens when you live your life with an awareness of God’s purpose for you. You are going to find yourself, in coming months, worrying about an education and a career choice. Those things are important but they will never give you the complete satisfaction that you desire unless they are combined with a sense of God’s purpose for your life.

God has a plan for you. God uniquely shaped you in a certain way to make a certain contribution with your life. Make it your goal to find out what God’s purpose is for you. When you do that, your career choice will be easier, the decisions about education will be easier, because it all works in harmony with God’s purpose for your life. Tonight you will graduate from High School, but somewhere down the road you will graduate from this life. When you do, nothing is going to matter more than the fact that you have walked in God’s purpose for your life. You won’t carry your career, or your education, into eternity. But, if you find God’s purpose for your life and walk in it, His purpose will carry you to Heaven.

Tonight you graduate into a world of uncertainties. As one man said, great opportunities surround you but they are disguised as unsolvable problems. I believe, tonight, that you will conquer the obstacles and make an impact on your world. I believe this because I know that God has a plan for you. And his plan is to prosper you. His plan is good. Find it and walk in it. That’s the key to true happiness in this life.