So the title of this is something you have often heard. Heck, it's even the way some people start their prayers. But this is something I'm constantly reminded every single day of my life. Something I wrote about in January was what I learned from 2012. In that post- which you can go to and read from the link provided- I talked about how God was really teaching me patience. There has been a lot of uncertainty in my life over the past year or two, but even when I didn't know what God's plan for me was, I knew He had a plan.
And so, when this semester started, as a result of some glitches on the Oakton website, I decided I was taking a semester off. What I would do in that semester, I had no idea. I had really only two commitments over that time. One was that I would go to bed early every Saturday night so that I could get up at 5:30 A.M. the next morning to help with the setup for my church's service. The other one was my commitment to serving my church youth group as a leader, and being of any help I can to junior high and high school students. Other than that, I had nothing to attend to during the week.
For a short time I continued to enjoy this vacation. I liked not having any responsibilities. My parents made me apply for jobs at places, which I did. I did it because of them. Secretly I wished that I could have all the free time in the world and not have a single responsibility. But eventually it hit me and I realized that this isn't a way for me to live. That was at the time when my parents stopped pushing it. I had to learn it on my own and make my own decisions. But you see God created us all to do stuff. We should be serving God in everything that we do. He didn't create us to just sit around all day, watch movies, eat fast-food, and play Xbox. Eventually this hit me and I felt like a bum. I felt so guilty of the selfish life I had been living. Even in my later years of high school, and in my first semester of college, I hadn't been working hard. I did just enough to get by. We're supposed to go hard for the Lord. I broke down when I realized this. I realized that laziness is a sin and it's a way no one- Christian or non-Christian should be going through life.
So once I finally hit rock bottom, I decided it was time for me to crackdown on the job search. I spent some days driving around from store to store asking about job applications, and then spend the days after it working on those applications. It grew tiresome, but I kept going. I did my best to persevere. And there were days I had in that time where I was lazy. But I kept praying and praying for God to provide a job for me. My patience was being tested. I had friends and family that were also faithfully praying for me and with me. It was rather encouraging after time and time again not hearing back from places I had applied, or being told that they weren't hiring. It was hard for me to stay patient and trust God through this.
Spring break came and went and on my flight home I was thinking about what I can do. I talked about this previously in my blog entitled "Blogging: Why I Do What I Do". I just said to God on my way home, "alright God, I don't know what your plan for me is. I've been looking for a job for a while and I haven't had any real results yet. I don't know if it is your plan for me to have a job right now or what, but I'm going to give this semester to you. I want to follow your plan for my life and I don't know what that is, but I don't want to be lazy." I was thinking and reflecting more and I thought about how I can make myself productive even when I don't have a job. One was to continue to apply to places, and the other was to do a lot of work on this blog. Work on my writing and see if this is a career I want to pursue.
My first day back I was informed that the Jewel Osco at Plaza del Lago was hiring. I went to ask and apply the next day, not getting any of my hopes up. They told me to apply online and then come in the next day to tell them who I was and that I applied. I did the application that night. I was planning to go to the Jewel the next day, but I felt sick, keeping me in the house the next two days. On the second day, I received a call on my home phone, asking for "Finney Vita John". Yep, I had accidentally written my name out of order on the app. Since then, I have interviewed and had job orientation and I will be starting tomorrow.
I find it amazing that after months of searching for a job and having no luck, not only was I able to find a job, but I was able to find a job after screwing up my name and not being able to come in to the store. God has certainly provided for me and given me an amazing opportunity. A lot of people have been congratulating me and whatnot, but it wasn't something I had control over. I'm glad that people are happy for me, but this isn't a result of my doing. I haven't done anything spectacular. At first I was proud of myself and was thinking, "yes I finally did this." But then I heard a voice in my head saying, "how arrogant are you?" After all this praying and asking for a job, I want to take credit for it. This isn't about me. It's about God and how he has provided for me. I'm extremely happy about the opportunity, but let's not forget that God is good.
It's so awesome seeing God work in prayer. God is so good. Let's try to think about that today. Think about how God has blessed you. How has he helped or provided for you? So often we want to take credit for stuff, and we want the attention to be on us. Pride is dangerous. It can affect anyone. No one's immune to being prideful. So really take some time to reflect and thank God for what he's done.
Other than that, I don't know what else to add. But my main points in this blog are that it's easy to get caught up in pride, laziness, and selfishness. Sometimes we don't even realize how we are being sinful or being any of these things. But let's try to put God first in all we do. God is good. God is so good. I'm extremely grateful for my opportunity to start work tomorrow. I'm feeling rather nervous and scared, but as I said I've been doing, I just need to patient and trust God.
Thank you to everyone who read, I hope you enjoyed this blog and took something away from it. Let me hear your thoughts on Facebook, Twitter @vellvita7, and in the comments below. Have a blessed day everyone!
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