I think it’s so important for us as Christians to give credit to God when credit is due. He is moving and working all day, every day and in all of our lives. Sometimes we don’t realize it’s him because he don’t have our eyes on him, sometimes we don’t realize it’s him because we simply aren’t paying attention, and sometimes we don’t realize it’s him because we would rather just call it a coincidence, but I don’t think this is right. We are diminishing the value of his work when we label things as a coincidence, because he is so intentional and careful with his work, he is always working and purposing our every step.
So here is the last part of all the confirmations God has given me, because I want to give him all the credit for the work he’s done in my life!
5. Confirmation 5: Not getting a job. Similar to #2 when my car broke down, most people would see this as a negative event, not one where we can see God’s hand working in my life. However, I know for sure this was him. In November I had applied for a job and interviewed for it, but hadn’t yet heard back from the company. I decided that the week after Thanksgiving I was going to leave a fleece out like Gideon in the Bible. I needed God to show me what he wanted with my life. The job I wanted was a ministry position here in Tennessee, so I knew I’d be serving God either way. I asked him to show me that if I got the job by the end of the week then I would not go on the World Race, and vice versa. The outcome: I didn’t get it. This showed me that God didn’t want me tied down here.
6. Confirmation 6: God spoke through church service. Have you ever sat through a church service and the preacher says something that just makes your heart jump? Ever have that thought when the preacher is speaking that no one else needed to be in service because that messages was directly spoken from God, through the preacher, to you? That’s happened to me multiple times during this journey. The day my fast started, the message at church was obedience. I knew this was God telling me to just obey him to whatever he calls me to. Here’s my catch though, I’d now be disobeying my mom since she no longer wanted me to go this upcoming year (with good reason). So my toss up was which is more obedient: obeying my mom and staying which disobeys God, or obeying God by going and thus disobeying my mom? I struggled with this the whole month of December. The following week, a pastor spoke on the journey of the wisemen to go see Jesus. He specifically said the words, “The wisemen had to travel in order to obey God’s plan for them.” This hit me like a brick wall. I have never heard the story with that idea in mind (and I have heard this story for 20 years, in a billion different ways, but not in this way.) God, again, was telling me that obeying him would be to go.
7. Confirmation 6: picking a route. I got a call from the World Race! They tole me that they didn’t want me on the gap year route because I would be 21 during the trip, but they also weren’t sure if I could go to the 11n11 route because I wouldn’t be 21 by the time they left. They told me to pick a route, so they could send it in to a board of advisors to approve me going before I was technically old enough. I told them the only thing I was certain about was going to Ethiopia (I have had a dream to go there since I was 5, but every opportunity I had God closed the door.) They then placed me on the only route that had Ethiopia on the schedule and said they would get back to me about being approved or not. The next night, I met a new friend, who wildly enough connected me with one of his friends who was going on the same route! What are the odds that I would have any type of connection with someone else going! I’d say the odds on earth were slim, but with God the possibilities were endless! I now had a contact with a new friend who prayed with me through this journey.
8. Confirmation 7: a memory. So, I was making a cross on my Instagram by the way I arranged my pictures on my feed. Every time I added a white picture with a Bible verse, I wrote a little story. Sometimes it was an explanation of a verse, but other times I would write stories of encounters I had with God. I am always very intentional with what I post and when I post, because I want it to be used to minister to someone at the right time. On December 11, 2017, God reminded me of an encounter I had with him on September 11, 2016. He told me I needed to write what he had told me that day and post about it. The specific part that showed up was that God told me he’s not dragging me on a leash to make me do what he wants, but rather he has his hand on my back to guide me, but has trusted me with the responsibility to ask him for direction and still make my own decisions. The next day, my teacher told me the same exact thing. God confirmed what he taught me over a year ago by having my teacher say the same thing! The essence of this was that it was up to me to make the decision, but to do what I knew in my heart was the way God was leading me (which 8 confirmations later, I clearly knew where God wanted me). I ended up getting a call the same day that I had been accepted to the 21-35 year old trip! Once again, God had not closed the door!
9. Confirmation 9: repetition. Through Christmas break, I fasted from all dessert (which let me tell you, was way harder than I expected during the Holidays, but God was so faithful!) I was now certain God wanted me to go, but needed my mom on board. It did not make sense to me that I was living in obedience to God if I was disobeying my mom. God continued to open doors, but I needed him to speak to her too. He spoke the same messages to me over three different ways by three different people. He was saying, “When forced to choose, obey God over obeying people.” My very own mom sent me a picture saying that, and she didn’t even realize she was saying it! During the passion conference, God said it two more times: to honor/obey God over people. God laid it right in front of me that it was more obedient to follow his plan over man’s plan.
10. Confirmation 10: a heart change. Through three quiet times, God told me to talk to my mom, to obey his call, and trust that he would work out the kinks. I mentioned one in the last post which was Genesis 12, the next was Genesis 30-33 which I read November 27, and the final one was Genesis 45 on January 7 (the night before I had set up a time to sit down and talk with my mom). To recap: the first one was when God told me to leave my everything (including parent’s house) to follow him, the second God told me mom would have a heart change and that I needed to set up a time to talk to her, and the third one God woke me up from my sleep to read and through it told me to just tell my mom every confirmation He had given me which would give her a heart change. And he did just that! She had a heart change after I sat down and spoke with her and agreed to let me go with her blessing and support!
God is so good. So faithful. He is intentional He will never leave you stranded, confused, or helpless. He will always make a way for his plan to prevail. Never doubt what he can do!
