Don Ross
Don Ross's Story
Career Plans
I thought my plan was the best option for my life.
As a senior in college, I had been planning on going to med school for nearly 7 years. I had wanted to be a doctor since high school. Everything about it appealed to me - working with people, studying and working on the human body, and especially making lots of money. I had taken all my necessary classes and aced the MCAT. I had worked in a hospital and built relationships with the admissions staff at med schools I was thinking of attending. The only thing I had left to do was apply.
Because I had been so caught up in my dream of becoming a doctor, I had largely ignored what God was trying to tell me about the way he had designed me. Although I had made a godly plan for my life - being a doctor would provide great opportunities to influence people on a spiritual level, to help others through medical missions, and to provide generously for the kingdom by making lots of money - I wasn't really sure if this was God's plan.
If God had not stepped in and shown me the selfishness of my plans, I would probably have gone into a career that would have eventually made me successful in the world's eyes but left me completely unsatisfied. I would have missed the boat in terms of what God had to offer me, because I thought my plan was the best option for my life.
Having been involved in Campus Crusade in college, I attended a leadership dessert in the fall of my senior year. I heard a friend who was planning to join staff with Crusade talk about how he had created a godly plan for his life but had realized that it wasn't God's plan and therefore not the best option for his life. It was then that I realized I had been holding my plans for med school with a closed fist - telling God that this is what I was going to do and asking him to bless it without really asking him what he wanted me to do.
That night, I prayed to God telling him that I would hold my plans with an open palm and that if he didn't want me to go to med school, would he take those plans from me and show me what he did want for me. I knew something was different overnight, and within a week my desire to go to med school had disappeared. This was completely unimaginable, since I had been desiring this for so many years. It was obvious that God had changed my heart.
God began to show me that what he desired for me (and what I really desired as well) was to work with people and minister to them directly. In particular I wanted to be a part of spreading the gospel to college students around the world. Because of that desire, I turned from my dreams of going to med school and dove head-first into pursuing full-time ministry.
Since then, I have been amazed at God's blessing in my life in being obedient to his leading. No plans that I had made could have been as good as what I have experienced since graduating college and being on staff with Campus Crusade. I have learned that God is a faithful and good God. Although his ways sometimes seem confusing, I know I can trust him and that wherever he leads me will be adventurous and rewarding.