Trusting the Author of our Story

It seemed like a dream, too good to be true, when God returned Zion’s exiles. (Psalm 126:1 (MSG))

In April of 2016, I received an email from one of my two bosses asking that I come to the office once I was finished in court. (At the time, I was practicing criminal law.) I wondered what she wanted to discuss and couldn’t help but think I had done something wrong. I mentally examined all the work I had done recently but could not think of anything that I had done wrong. I told myself not to worry about it. When I arrived at the office, I was called into a closed-door meeting with my bosses. A few seconds after I sat down, one of them said the words “we are so sorry, but we have to let you go. It has nothing to do with your work product. This is just a tough time for us financially.” I was stunned. I never saw that coming. I was sad and angry, but I politely received my severance envelope, thanked them for the opportunity they had given me, and left to pack my things. When I got to my car, I sat inside and wept for about five minutes. I could not understand what had just happened. The rest of the day was stressful. But the next day I resolved to look ahead and begin the search for a new job. And thus began my journey of various starts and stops.

In the following months, I searched actively for a new position but found nothing. I experienced many disappointments. On two occasions I was offered a job one day and the offer was withdrawn the next. What a mess! Little did I know that God was writing a beautiful story. My faith during this time of waiting was not shaken but I was often discouraged. I felt like David most of the time – one day I would be full of hope and appreciation for the greatness of God and all that He can do, but the next I would be crying out to God in desperation. I trusted the Lord, however I couldn’t help but wonder when my breakthrough would come. In August (2016) I got a job. It was just that, a job. It did not involve the practice of law and I knew I did not want to be there. I was not intellectually challenged by the work. And I was not excited about it. Regardless, I thanked God for his provision and continued my job search.

In May 2017, I signed up to attend a speed mentoring session. I almost did not attend the event. But I did, after much encouragement from my husband. That night, one of the mentors I interacted with seemed to take what I thought at the time was an unusual interest in my career story. When I explained about being let go the previous year and my unsuccessful attempts to find a new (law) job, she was very empathetic and kept saying how sorry she was that I had to go through that situation. I recall getting home that night and jokingly telling my husband how overly concerned, bordering on overreacting, this woman had been. The next day, I sent an email to all the mentors, including this woman, that volunteered their time at the mentoring session. She replied immediately and started to ask very pointed questions about where I had applied and if I had considered a different area of law than criminal law. Within a week, she met with me to review my resume and cover letter which I had sent earlier in the year to the organization where she is employed. She also told me that she reached out to human resources to find out if the position had been filled, it hadn’t, so she asked that they review my application again. Wow! I had only known her for about two or three weeks at this point. Not long after, I received a call with an invitation to a phone interview. This same woman volunteered to help me prepare for the phone interview. At the end of my phone interview, I was offered an in-person interview. Three days later, I received an offer of employment! This offer was the definition of God giving to me more than I could have imagined for myself. He gave me beyond my expectations.

I have been at this job for about five months now and I marvel each day at how great God has been to me. This is the ‘dream’ job I didn’t even know I wanted.

Here are the top five things that I learned in this season of waiting on God and hoping for a change in my circumstance:

1. Always thank God for where you are as you wait for where you really want to be.

2. Remember that God is limitless.

3. Never stop trusting God.

4. When the Lord opens a door, He opens it very wide.

5. God’s story for our life is so much more beautiful than anything we can write ourselves.

So, ladies (and gentlemen who may be reading this blog), wait on God. Trust Him with your story, whatever that may be. And remember that God never fails.

#gracetobeloved #trustinGod #trust #ourstory