The first part of the year is always one of goal setting and promises made that this year will be different than any other year but mostly last year. This year Paula and I decided that we would not make any promises or make any goals outside of God’s will. We have always said that would be our plan but we almost always did not follow through on that plan.
This year we both took advantage of Church of the Highlands 21 Days of Prayer that they do twice-yearly. It ran from January 3rd through January 23rd from 6:00 until 7:00 AM Monday –Friday and 9:00 – 10:00 AM on Saturday. During that time people walk around, sit, stand, kneel, bow, and generally just get in a posture of prayer and seek God for our world, our nation, our state and ourselves. We seek God by praying for the lost, by intervening for the sick, the depressed, and the poor. We pray for our Pastor and for yours. We pray for our church leaders and for yours. We pray for revival. We pray for a great awakening. We pray for all Christians to be bold for the sake of Christ and His Kingdom. We are quite, we are loud, we weep, we laugh, we rejoice, we mourn, we worship and we praise!!
The one thing that I have been amazed about during and after that 21 days of intentional corporate prayer is that God allowed me to be closer to Him than I had ever felt in my life. You see, during that time I was at a very low point in my life. I had lost another job in December and was lost and confused as to what God wanted me to do next. I have been in sales most of my adult life and just did not find the joy that I once had. I knew that God was in control but I just didn’t know what He wanted me to do.
Paula and I prayed about the direction that God wanted us to take and during this time we felt Him saying “Wait on me!!” I had applied for all kinds of jobs. One was for a “family director” at a church in California, another was for a positon with a local car dealership, another was for a church in South Carolina and a couple’s pastor, another was for a lawn care company here in Birmingham and the last one was with Bradford Health also here in Birmingham. There were others but these are the ones worth mentioning.
I believe God tested me during this time because I had made it clear that I would not take a job unless I knew clearly that He was directing me to whatever it would be but I did ask Him that he would clearly NOT have me go back to sales.
The first job I was offered was with the car dealership!! As I was sitting in their showroom waiting to get the paperwork to go do a drug screening I could feel my stomach tying up in knots. I knew this was not where God wanted me to be but I reasoned that it was a start and that I could keep looking. I just couldn’t shake the feeling of failing God if I accepted this job. Paula and I prayed about it that night and I privately asked God to provide for me a way to know that this was not what He wanted me to do. After we finished our prayer time, Paula came to me and said, “I think God is telling us that you shouldn’t take this job.” God was clearly saying “wait”
The same day, I was offered the job at the lawn care company and a call to come interview with Bradford. I asked the guy at the lawn care company if I could hold off on giving him an answer until I had a chance to speak to Bradford because that was in line with what my degree would be better suited. After meeting with the people at Bradford it was revealed that they would be taking a week to discuss all the interviews and then make the offers so the next day when I called the lawn care company back, I told him that I was going to decline their offer because I felt good about getting a call back from Bradford. He could not understand why I would not take a job that I had in hand while waiting to hear from a company that might not offer the position to me. I told him plainly that God said “WAIT!”
As I waited on The Lord to provide the place that he wanted me to be, Paula and I continued to pray and seek His face. Not just for our needs but for those that had been presented to us through 21 Days of Prayer as well as those that we knew about from friends and family. Before we knew it a month had gone by without me working and then the day came, exactly one week after I interviewed with Bradford, I was offered the position!! I start February 29th, one week over the two month mark of being released from YP.
So if you find yourself in a position where God is telling you to wait, please listen to His still small voice because He will make it worth the wait.
“Lord, I wait for you; you will answer, Lord my God.” Psalm 38:15 NIV
Kevin’s Care 