In God's Time

I was absolutely miserable. I hated my job. The school year had started and I had a new boss who thought that I was useless and that my position wasn't necessary. For the first time since I started teaching my boss was a man. AND he was an extremely opinionated man who had no qualms about telling everyone his political views. My co-workers noticed my gloominess and tried to offer support with little success.

Earlier that spring I had applied for a job that would not only give me more money and would definitely be a move up the career ladder, but it was also my dream job or at least a few years ago would have been my dream job. I didn't know if I was supposed to stay with teaching in a public school or if I was supposed to become a minister. I knew that if I got the job I would have a hard time committing to something like seminary. If I was supposed to get my masters of divinity, then I knew God wouldn't allow me to get the job. If I was supposed to focus on avocational ministries, I would get the job.

School started and I didn't hear anything. I felt like I was standing on a limb that had a crack through it. At any moment everything would fall out from under me and I was terrified. At school I was miserable. I barely made it through my days. Finally about two weeks in, I prayed to God that I needed peace with my job. If I was going to have to stay at Lorenzo and EPEC, I needed God to help me get through this. I couldn't stand the way I was feeling any longer.

I said to God, "Okay, I can't live like this anymore. I need your help. If I have to be at this job, I need you to give me peace with it. Give me strength to finish this year." I suddenly felt an ease that I would be all right and could survive this school year.

When I got home from work that afternoon, I had to hurry because I was leading Bible study and had to get ready for that. I didn't bother getting my mail, but when I was leaving for the group, I did check it and there was the letter from the ESC telling me that they had hired someone else.

If I had gotten that letter a day earlier, I couldn't have handled the realization that I was stuck with a tiresome job. I knew that God had only allowed me to receive the bad news when I was able to handle it. I also understood that when I had finally asked for help God had immediately given it. I could have saved myself a lot of hassle if I'd relied on God from the beginning. I'm just glad I eventually turned to God.