Words to Stand On - Day Five

     

    Sometimes it is hard to know what to do with your life.  What kind of job or vocation should one pursue? In today's world, nearly all of us at one point or another seek to be gainfully employed.  If you have to work, you might as well work doing something you like to do!

     

       Jeremiah 29:11, New Living Translation, says "For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."

God has a plan for our lives.  A plan that gives you a future. Sometimes, random happenings reveal it! Here's what happened to me:

When it became obvious my husband was having difficulty with job attendance due to his illness, I knew that meant I needed to go back to work.  My children were 3, 5 and 10 years old, and I had to find employment that worked around their pre-school and school schedules.

I began going out daily to apply at various offices.  I wasn't having any success when one day my 10 year old asked, "Mom, if you could have any job you wanted, what would it be."  I realized that I had not really thought about my job search in that perspective. What was it that I really wanted to do?

I told her that I thought I would make a good church secretary.  I loved the church and had practically done almost every job connected with it as a volunteer. Why not get paid for doing something I was already doing?  I determined that tomorrow I would go around to the churches in the area and see if I could apply for a job.

The very next day, I received a phone call from the wife of one of my husband's cousins informing me that their church needed a secretary.  She felt impressed by the Lord to call and let me know about it! 

Long story short, I was hired at her church and for the next 8 years I felt like I had the best job in the world!

But in life, change is inevitable, and circumstances with the church made it clear that soon there would not be enough money to pay my salary.  What to do?  By then, my husband was on permanent disability.

Feeling discouraged, I thought I should apply for a secular job, hopefully one with better benefits.  I started applying at colleges and schools because I thought that environment would be the next best thing to the church. As time went on, I applied everywhere and panicked because no one responded.  I felt humiliated, few businesses even wanted to interview me.

One day, I told the Lord I felt like giving up. Later that evening, I picked up a little paper that covered all the news from the county next to where I lived.  I hadn't looked in their help wanted section because past experience had shown there were only ads for nursing assistants and truck drivers.  That day, however, there was an ad for a church secretary at a Baptist church!

I quickly wrote a letter explaining my previous church secretary experience and mailed it on my way to work.  Usually, when mailing things from the town I worked in meant mail would be delivered two, maybe three, days later. However, I was called for an interview the day after I had mailed my resume. The next day, I was hired.

In three days, God had given me a job just right for me. I found out later the church had been discouraged with the lack of response from that ad and had pulled it from the paper.  I saw it on the last day scheduled for the ad to run.

God had a plan for me, and it ended just as He expected!

Don't be discouraged when it looks as if things are hopeless.  Stand on Jeremiah 29:11 and remember that He does have a plan for your life, and it's a good plan.  He is not worried that it won't work out. He will move heaven and earth to see that it does!

Pray this:  "Father, I yield my life to You.  I ask that You work out your plan for my life. I thank You that it is a good plan and that I have a good future in You. I trust You, and because of you I have hope.  Amen"