God's will?

[jackiem]

So I’m just looking for a bit of advice. Here is my question and then I will provide some background info. How do you know when God is shutting doors to have you change your path verse the devil trying to tell you that you are not good enough for what you want to do.

So I’m currently studying very intensive for the MCAT (test you need to take to get into med school). To make a long story short my scores are not where they need to be so I’m doing this summer intensive program. Today in class I was not understand ing much of what we went over and started to get really worried. I wonder if in fact, this doubt is what God is placing on my heart. Is He trying to tell me that if I am this stressed, med school will be even worse and maybe not for me? Or is it rather that the negative feelings are from the devil trying to make me think that I am not good enough? What are your options and thoughts on disercinging these kinds of events in your own life.

 

[InLight247]

MCAT is not easy. If your aptitude is in medicine and science, and your GPA is good, what you need to do is to give your best to overcome all the challenges.

It is easy to get discouraged while facing obstacles. But I will not dwell on the hardship. I will focus on studying hard and follow through the intensive preparation courses.

Pray to God for intelligence and understanding. Ask for Holy Spirit’s help. If medical school is what you are really interested in, you just have to try harder and not give up easily. Don’t spend time to wonder, spend time to study.

 

[eponymic]

It is my belief (and others will probably disagree with me) that God’s Will is not a set of specific events that have to happen in your life. God’s Will is to make the best of your life insofar as you can. Take the opportunities presented to you and do the best you can for yourself, your family and your community. God does not layout the one path your life should take. He shows us many paths, and it up to us to decide which one to follow.

If you’re constantly worrying about if it’s God’s Will that you follow a certain career path, or marry a certain person, or wear a red shirt instead of a blue one you’ll constantly be second guessing your life. Furthermore, there is a great temptation to pass off your own decisions as being “God’s Will” when it’s just a rationalization for doing what you want to do while pretending not to have selfish motivations.**

I wonder if in fact, this doubt is what God is placing on my heart. Is He trying to tell me that if I am this stressed, med school will be even worse and maybe not for me? Or is it rather that the negative feelings are from the devil trying to make me think that I am not good enough? What are your options and thoughts on disercinging these kinds of events in your own life.

This is a prime example of what I mean. I agree that studying for med school is a trying time, and it’s not easy and many people do not succeed on that path. However, the way you’re wording this sets yourself up to effectively blame God for deciding not to go to med school. You have free will. You make the decision to go to med school or not. God will not make the decision for you.

If you’re having doubts about it, then you need to ask yourself (and God) why it is that you want to go to med school. Are you going because it’s what you want, because you’re this far already and you (or others) are placing pressure on yourself to keep going, or something completely different? My advice is not to martyr yourself for med school. Don’t force yourself to continue through the doubts only to end up out of med school in several years with no degree and a ton of debt. It might be worthwhile to step back, and take a year off (or a month, or a long weekend, or however long it takes) to reevaluate your life. Explore other career paths and see what you’d want to do if med school isn’t going to work out. Use that time to continue studying as well, and in a year/month/long weekend try the MCATs again. In doing this you (or God) are not closing the door on med school, but you’re taking the time to explore other doors.

** Selfish motivations are not inherently bad. Deciding to have chocolate ice cream instead of strawberry is a selfish motivation since it is acting in accordance only with your own desires. However since the choice does not negatively effect other people, it is not immoral just because it is selfish (unless you’re eating the last of the chocolate just to prevent somebody else from having it).

 

[KingAlfred]

So I’m just looking for a bit of advice. Here is my question and then I will provide some background info. How do you know when God is shutting doors to have you change your path verse the devil trying to tell you that you are not good enough for what you want to do.

So I’m currently studying very intensive for the MCAT (test you need to take to get into med school). To make a long story short my scores are not where they need to be so I’m doing this summer intensive program. Today in class I was not understand ing much of what we went over and started to get really worried. I wonder if in fact, this doubt is what God is placing on my heart. Is He trying to tell me that if I am this stressed, med school will be even worse and maybe not for me? Or is it rather that the negative feelings are from the devil trying to make me think that I am not good enough? What are your options and thoughts on disercinging these kinds of events in your own life.

If you are called to be a doctor, it will all come together for you in response to your hard-work and sacrifice. If not, God will lead you to your true calling, as long as you continue to serve Him faithfully, with all your abilities. I spent twenty years trying to ‘force the issue’ in a field to which I wasn’t called. Eventually God led me where I needed to be, at the appropriate time. I learned a lot enroute, and wouldn’t ‘re-do’ anything.