A Job Offer

By Linda Cliff

After over a year of job searching my daughter got a job this week!  This has been a difficult time for her as you can imagine, however I am going to talk about the lessons I learned though this process.

At first I was studying the Bible verses with the themes of ask and it shall be given, God can move mountains for those who believe.  As the months went by I read the verses which reminded me that all things work together for good for those who love God. 

During this time I was following my plan to read the Bible in a year.  At the beginning of each session the reader is reminded to do four things.  First is to ASK God to connect with you during the reading.  To slow down, to pray, to be open to what God has for you.  Then to slowly READ the scripture and to note the words and phrases that intrigue you.  Then to REFLECT on what you are reading.  How might God be speaking to you, what are the connections that may be important to you. And finally to RESPOND by speaking directly to God, to look for ways to live out what you uncovered.

Well God did speak to me.  It seemed with each reading I was able to find solace and to question why I was so worried about my daughter and her job search.  I realized that I was not really praying for her.  I was praying out of my concern for myself and not asking God to be with her.  To keep her safe, to help her remain focused on her goals.  I realized I was worried about my goals.  My prayers changed.  As a mother I was still concerned about her future but I was now having conversations with God about how I should talk with Him and how my prayers should be offered up for my family.

I realize that I wanted this job search process to be over quickly so I could stop my worry, but God had His own plan.   Over the past months, I have become much more specific in my prayers, I pray more regularly and I feel like something is missing if I don’t spend time with God each day.  Lessons well learned.

Linda Cliff