A Lot Can Change in Four Years

“Remember, though, a lot can change in three years. Just think about where you were three years ago.”

Those were the words of my pastor—just the other day, in fact. He was explaining something to a group of us, and the future had come up. As he laid out what he thought might happen, he also pointed out that we just don’t know exactly what will appear in that distant future—at least not ultimately.

Wow. That landed for me. Not the least because of what has changed in my life, but also because there are no guarantees that more changes won’t come. Three years ago, I was married to my first wife, and cancer was beginning to grow, unbeknownst to either of us. We had just received the “all clear” scan from her first cancer 4 years earlier. And I was about to start looking into Ph.D. degrees. Again.

I was at a different church. I was in a different home. I was in a different city. My children were a different age, and I was a different person. It’s crazy to think how much has changed in just three years.

This week is the first week of classes at the Bible College where I teach. Students are wrapping up their first full week of classes, getting used to the dorms, finding jobs for their college schedules, and practicing for their various sports and musical activities. They’re making new friends, living new lives, following new schedules, and, well, much of their lives is just plain new. And in four short years, college will be over, and life will move on. During this first week, that seems like a distant horizon. But it will arrive sooner than they are expecting.

What will change for them in four years?

For some, it will be their major. This is hardly unexpected. Most students change their major at least once, and for many, it’s more than once. Whether they realize the degree is not a fit, or they learn more about themselves as they struggle through classes, the new degree is usually a welcome change.

For some, it will be their relationship with God. Many come from Christian homes, but not all. And some of those from Christian homes aren’t themselves Christians. I remember one student who came from a pastor’s home. She fought and avoided and tried her best to pull a Jonah. But God does not give up so easily, and she got saved in her freshman year. I know of a few more with a similar story. But hers was such a noticeable transformation. From running from God and being distant at church, to serving with joy, and now continuing in grad school on a path to a full-time ministry. Those stories are the kinds we remember and hold onto when the to-do list is long and the nights are late.

For some, it will be their walk with God. So many come to Bible college with a general knowledge of Christianity. Having sat through many sermons and been to many fellowships, they know a bit. But then you see it. One day in class, they are sitting up straighter. Paying attention better. Asking questions after class. Then you hear they have been meeting with an older Christian to be discipled. They begin to see that their faith must be their faith. The effort increases, and so does their love for the Savior.

But for others, the changes will be more difficult. One student lost her husband on her honeymoon between her junior and senior year. Another student lost a parent just before his freshman year, and his other parent the week he graduated. Some students face difficulties that seem less difficult, but when they experience the difficulty, it still isn’t easy. Some students don’t have a stable Christian home to return to during breaks. Some don’t have the money to fly home and must stay in the empty dorms over Christmas. Add the normal struggles of a college student to the mix—finances, grades, friends, and sleep deprivation—and you can see how you’re going to be a different person in four years when you graduate.

So let’s return to the question, but change it slightly.

What will change for you in four years?

Want the answer? It’s not profound. It might not even be what you want to hear. But I know it’s true. James tells us that we can make plans for the future, and that’s not bad. But whenever we do, we must add that little phrase “if the Lord wills.” That’s not a magic sentence that will trigger your best life now. But it recognizes a key truth that also answers our question. That truth is this:

The Lord wills.

Period. Or, as we used to say back when X was Twitter, “that’s the tweet.” God wills. What does that mean? It means God plans. God carries out those plans. And it also means that we are beholden to those plans. We can pray and strive and work and rage and anything else we choose. But nothing stops God’s sovereignty over our lives.

Yes, He allows you to harvest the results of your sinful choices. And yet He’s still in control.

Yes, He allows suffering to arrive on the scene in our lives. And yet He’s still good.

Yes, He prospers some and does not prosper others. And yet He’s still just .

So what will change in your life in the next four years? Whatever God wills. That’s not good news for those who want to work hard but still be the one who gets to call the shots. But for those who are ready to submit to God’s plans, this is a welcome truth. We work our hardest to follow Him. But He is in charge of what actually happens.

God is always good, even when He wills to allow difficulties. Like a personal trainer who knows you need to do some burpees, He really does have our good and His glory in mind. But burpees are never pleasant. Do they help? Sure. They do good things for our bodies. But in the moment, nobody likes them.

Make some plans. Be ambitious for the Lord. Seek His kingdom and Him. And be ready for whatever He wills in your life. Who knows what kind of good He will accomplish in just the next four years.

James 4
¹³ Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— ¹⁴ yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”