Dependable God

I’m so glad I chose a career path that causes me to depend on God.

When I first wrote about my journey through medical school, I was honest about how much I had struggled. I had failed a course and wondered whether I had made a mistake by accepting God’s call to become a medical doctor. At the time, I could only see the roadblocks. I didn’t yet understand what God might be doing through them.

Today, I see things differently. I am now in my final year of medical school, and I no longer regret my choice. In fact, I love it here.

Looking back, I sometimes wonder what my life would have looked like if I had chosen a different path. Perhaps I would have become more comfortable, more self-reliant, or even proud. Instead, God called me down a road that has repeatedly reminded me that I cannot do this on without God.

In that way, I think about the Israelites. When God brought them out of Egypt, they probably imagined that freedom would mean a smooth journey to the Promised Land. Instead, they found themselves in a wilderness, facing obstacles that they did not anticipate and could not overcome by themselves. At times, they cried out, “Why did you bring us into the wilderness to die?”

Yet the wilderness became a place where they experienced God’s faithfulness firsthand. They saw God’s provision, protection, mercy, and saving power. Their journey taught them to depend on the God who had called them out of Egypt.

I think medical school has done something similar for me. It has been tumultuous. There have been failures, disappointments, tears, and moments when things simply did not go the way I hoped. But through it all, God has been faithful. 

The roadblocks were not the end of the road. The detours were never meant to derail my future. If anything, the challenges have nurtured something in me: a deep trust and reliance on God. They have taught me to be okay when things do not go according to my plans. More importantly, they have deepened my faith and my knowledge of who God is.

The Israelites eventually sang, “The LORD is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation” (Ex. 15:2, NIV). Their song came after they had witnessed God make a way where there seemed to be no way. I think I resonate with that song a little better now.

I am still on this journey, and I do not know everything that lies ahead. But I no longer need the road to be easy to know that God is faithful. I am grateful that God called me here, and perhaps one of the greatest gifts of this calling has been discovering just how dependable my God is.