Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. -Proverbs 3:5-6

Five people gave me the heads up about this new job opening. Earlier this summer, I wrote about a seemingly perfect job opportunity in my post Searching for the Unlocked Door.

Unlike my first attempt, this position was exactly what I had done before, and I had already gone through the complete interview process once, so this was surely divine intervention.

Last time the call came early, but this time there was no call. Instead there was an email. The position had been filled. Then I had to text or call everyone who had prayed to tell them the words I dreaded to utter. “I didn’t get it again.”

As I stared at the rejection email wondering why in the world I had gone down this path again only to endure the same result, mixed emotions fired in my brain. Though there was the sting of rejection, God’s timing had proven once again to be perfect.

Twenty minutes prior to the email, I received a different job offer. It is not full-time, and there will still be financial challenges, but it is the very job I had prayed for before the full-time opening became a possibility. It is a new direction. God did not want me to go back to what was known and comfortable.

There are a few reasons I would not change the process or the outcome. First, if we do not attempt to go through the door, we will not know if we missed an opportunity God placed before us. Second, it develops dependence on Him that gives us assurance down the road as we look back and begin to question. Finally, it builds character, patience and faith. All of which I apparently need in spades.

What I did not see coming was the inner monologue from the enemy. There was the initial sting of the second rejection. Then there was the idea that I didn’t get it because the Lord knew it would be too much for me to handle and I’m not strong enough for it all. Then there was the doubt that there was really a plan for me at all. After all, I can be a half glass empty kind of girl.

How do you spot a lie from the enemy? God doesn’t talk that way. Sisters, do not listen when you feel this way. I promise you that God has HIS best plan for your life regardless of what you thought it would look like. Keep looking up until He delivers you out of the wilderness.

When I was a young girl, we would frequent the beach each summer. One summer, I was in the ocean and an uncharacteristically large wave came barreling toward me. I braced myself for the impact, but the force knocked me off my feet and tossed me like a rag doll.

Terrified, I could not find the surface. Once, I thought I was headed in the right direction, only to find a fistful of sand instead as I groped wildly looking for the surface. By this time, I was desperate to breathe, and I was beginning to panic.

As the force of the wave continued battering me against the bottom of the ocean, I opened my eyes and saw light. Though the wave crashed over me, tossed me about violently, and threatened to overtake me, it was not strong enough to block the penetrating light that showed me the way out.

Jesus Christ is that light. No matter how dark the world becomes, or how discouraged we are at our circumstances, there is One who is always in control. He is never surprised when we are rejected again by the “perfect” job opportunity, or when we receive unexpected news from the doctor, or when we face anything devastating, because He knows we live in a broken world.

Never give up hope. Never stop trying each door. When you least expect it, and when His timing is just right, if you trust God completely and let Him lead you, He will show you the best door.

Give it up sister!