John Walkup,

Professor Emeritus,
Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Texas Tech University

[Jan. 10, 2010] —

Does God really offer the best plan for my life?

I have noticed that it is frequently only in hindsight (if then) that I get a proper perspective on the events of my life.

Roller Coaster Years

My grad school years felt like a roller coaster. I needed to repeat my qualifying exams after being the highest ranked candidate who did not pass. (The pass rate in my department was around 50%).

I switched research areas three times at Stanford, the last time occurring after a 10-day sit-in of our laboratory by a group protesting involvement in classified research supported by the Department of Defense during the Vietnam war.

I finished my Ph.D. dissertation when there were very few academic jobs available in the part of the country where my wife Pat and I initially preferred to settle. When I did get an offer, one of my departmental administrators implied that I would be wasting my life to go to an institution that wasn’t ranked as one of the top-20 in my field.

Wide Open Spaces

We finally decided that God really did want us to leave California for the wide open spaces of northwest Texas. There I would start a research program essentially from scratch. In retrospect, God really did have a good plan.

My final research area switch back in graduate school had led me to work under a young professor who became one of the leaders in my branch of modern optics. I collaborated with several outstanding colleagues and students who were also followers of Christ, and God enabled our group to participate in some very exciting research projects.

Over the years I worked with a number of students who were as good in the classroom and laboratory as I would have experienced at many more prestigious institutions. Looking back, I never felt that I had indeed “thrown my (professional) life away” as that professor had suggested to me.

Only God Sees

Raising our three daughters in family-friendly Lubbock, Texas was a great blessing, and the short commute meant that I was able to have more time with them in the evenings. It also allowed me time to be engaged in ministry with students through InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

Why do I share these apparent setbacks and the end results with you? I believe that it is important in our Christian walks not to let the world define success for us, and to remember that only God sees the full scope of our lives.

As we begin 2010, may our trust be not in our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6) but in Him whose plans are ultimately for our good and His glory.
© 2010 John Walkup