Learning to Trust
- Capital Fellows
- Sep 28
- 4 min read
By Owen Schutte
Among the many wise insights our fellows cohort heard from John Kyle during our kickoff retreat, one specific thought has stuck with me over the last month. While discussing what it’s like to step into this new season of life, specifically being recently graduated young adults with the rest of our lives in front of us, John Kyle pointed us to the creation story in the book of Genesis to look at God’s design for humans. He made the observation that one ability Adam and Eve never had in the Garden of Eden was the ability to see the future.
I paused to consider this.
Even in God’s perfect design for humans, in the world untainted by sin, He did not give us the ability to know what is going to happen next in our lives.
Often, it may feel like “if I could just know what job I’m going to get”, or “if I could just know where I’m going to live next year”, and so on… then I’d feel okay. Whatever it may be for you, looking at God’s design for humans shows us that it would actually not be a good thing to know the answers to all of these questions. This points to the truth that from the very beginning, God has always desired for us to be in a dependent relationship with Him. He wants His people to trust Him. If we always knew what was coming next, there would be no need for us to cling to Him in dependence.
This trust, however, is not that God will make our lives easy or that things will go the way we want when we want them to. It's trusting that God’s word is true — and that Jesus will meet us in the hard moments. It’s trusting that our ultimate future is secured in Jesus’s death and resurrection.
The moments that feel the most uncertain can now be seen as opportunities to practice this trust. As thoughts about the future come up and I work through ideas of potential career paths and where each one could lead me, I am learning to stop and position myself in right relationship to God. This does not mean not thinking about these things, but it changes the lens through which I am looking. I can, and should, make plans and have hopes for my future, but it is important to remember, as Pastor Bill Fullilove said this Sunday, that “Jesus wants far more for us than we even know or think to want for ourselves”. There is no need to see the future when this is the character of the God we serve. My hope in this new season of life is that I can learn to hold loosely to my own plans and firmly to the promises of God.
Owen Schutte is a member of the Capital Fellows class of 2025-26. He is from Durham, NC, and is a graduate of Baylor University. This year, he is working as an Ecclesial Fellow in the Youth Ministry at McLean Presbyterian Church.
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About Capital Fellows. Capital Fellows is an advanced leadership and discipleship program for recent college graduates. Through graduate courses, a paid internship, one-on-one mentoring, and many leadership and community service opportunities, fellows develop and apply their gifts in real-world situations while learning to integrate a Christian worldview into all areas of life. Capital Fellows is a unique opportunity to live and work in the Washington DC area and to be an active member of a supportive community that seeks to serve the city with the love of Christ. It is also a unique opportunity to get hands-on experience in the workplace while deeply exploring God’s design for us as workers and contributors to human flourishing.
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