A couple weeks ago, I had a job interview. After the interview, I felt peace in my
spirit and fully believed God had already opened the door for this new
position. I thought I had it all figured
out; it seemed to really fit with the direction God is taking me in ministering
to people. I even started taking some
personal items home from my current office in preparation. A few days later I was told I did not get the
job. I was beyond surprised. “God, what happened? I thought I had heard a clear ‘yes’ about
this.” It took me a few days to process
this curve ball I’d been thrown. The day
I got the news, we had praise team practice at church that evening. I thought, “Perfect timing! I’m gonna praise Him in this storm.” And that’s exactly what I did, tears and
all.
God always answers our prayers. But what do we do when the answer is not at
all what we are expecting? Submit
ourselves to Him, completely. Pray as Jesus did, “Not my will, but Your
will, Father.” Don’t we long to walk in
His perfect will for our lives? Looking
back on this whole experience, I am seeing that this was a test for me. God wanted to see how I would handle this
curve ball. Although it took me a little
while to work through it, I think I passed the test. I took my confusion and bitterness about the
whole thing and handed it over to the One who can handle it. He invites me to cast my cares on Him. He promises to carry my burdens. And during the darkest moments, He reminds me
that JOY comes in the morning. My God is
good. My God is faithful. And my God answers prayer.
“Consider
it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may
be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
James 1:2-4
James 1:2-4
Gaile Brittain
