Happier than Disneyland

Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee. Genesis 12:1

One of the pros of living in Southern California is Disneyland. I’m sure you have that friend on instagram that keeps posting pictures of them and their girlfriend in front of the castle. I remember as a child my family had season passes to Disneyland and I can recall the Saturday nights in which I would stay up anticipating the next day (yea just like the cheesy commercial). As a child, their slogan “the happiest place on earth” became a reality to me. But those times have long been gone, and I have a grown to find out that there is a happier place on earth. And to make things even better, it’s not even one place.

To build up on the story above, I was conversing with a friend and the topic of our future endeavors and careers was brought up. This individual was doing her last year in the pre-med track and just finished taking her MCAT last summer. It would seem to me, that if you made it through such a rigorous four years of pre-med you might as well do your six years and become a medical doctor. And to make things even better, she scored in the 97th percentile which would make her extremely competitive for many medical schools. Yet, she said no and didn’t even send in her application. I was surprised with her decision and asked her why. And her answer was simple, she has come to a realization that the happiest place for her was where God wanted her to be, and she was convinced that medical school was not the right place.

If there was anyone that experienced this first person, it would have to have been Abram (aka Abraham in the near future). According to the book of Genesis, chapter 12, God was calling Abram to leave his own country. Imagine the disappointment of family, and friends, when they heard that Abram is leaving to a place that he isn’t really sure of. You would think he’s a fool for leaving his so called “Disneyland”. But as one of my favorite author writes, “the happiest place on earth for him (Abramham) was the place where God would have him to be.” In fact it was by following this path that God was able to bless him most abundantly even to the point that Jesus descended through the seed of Abraham. The same is with us, God wants us to be happy and that happens through walking in His path. Some probably thought that I was a making a mistake by waiting on my degree to spend a year in a foreign island. But I’ll have to testify against that. I realize that Palau was the best place on earth for me during that time, because that’s where God wanted me. The same goes with my friend, she’ll be happier living in a tiny hut in the mission field if that is where God wants her to be, compared to a mansion with her name written on plaques.

Dear reader, I don’t know where God wants you to be or what he wants you to do. But I know that He has a plan for you and that you will be happiest when you are walking in it. So keep walking and ask Him to guide, and remember that throughout this whole process, his love for you will always be infinite.