"For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God." 1 Corinthians 2:11
When God puts something in your heart, it doesn’t shake. It’s not easy to explain to people, but you know that He is leading your path. You may not know what it is or how it will happen or when it will, but there is a feeling within when you just know you need to follow the direction your heart is leading you.
Sometimes you get answers directly and sometimes He sends you signs to guide you in a way that only He knows will work.
Coming up on my senior year of college, I feel a constant stress tugging on me to “get my life together” and I have to accomplish it as soon as possible. I need to find a job NOW, I need to find an apartment NOW. The list of needs and how fast I “need” it never ends. I get impatient with God because of all the unknowns and the uncertainties, but I know he is working. He always is. I want to share this story because it’s been a reminder for me lately through the constant worries of graduating, my life is a work in progress. (YOURS IS TOO!)
As many know from my other articles, I’m in Dublin, Ireland doing an accounting internship. (I apologize for all my jabber about it.) However, I almost didn’t come here. I had been really interested as I found out about it through my school, but it was an investment. I wasn’t sure it would be worth it as an expense or even for an experience. I had talked to my mom over and over, questioning the opportunity. The deadline in April was coming quick and I needed to make a decision. I remember as I was on the phone with my mom to make the final decision saying, “I just haven’t had any signs telling me that it’s actually a good idea. I’ve been praying about it, but nothing really has come about to tell me definitely.” Interestingly enough, my mom felt like I should wait another evening to decide yes or no. Around this time, I was volunteering a couple of days a week for United Way’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (VITA/TCE) program. So when I finished talking to my mom, I was going to the VITA site still wondering what I should do. People came and went and my time was almost up for the evening when this older woman and her daughter were brought to my station. I asked the standard questions as the daughter seemed to answer for her. As we continued, the older woman started to talk and I noticed she had an accent. She was chatting away about Ronald Reagan and old memories, which made me slow myself down entering her information just so I could listen to her talk more. I was stapling her return together when I finally said that I noticed her accent and wondered where she was from.
“Oh, I’m from Ireland! County Clare.”
I told her I was thinking about going to Ireland and she was excited, telling me that I would have the absolute best time.
Chills. It may not seem like much to some, but the coincidence to me was aweing. After the phone conversation with my mom saying I had no sign, in walks an Irish woman to my VITA station in Wichita, Kansas… The odds seem very slim for that perfect of timing!
So what I want to share is that God is always working. He’s planting seeds within you, watering them, nurturing them, and watching them grow. Like the verse above, only God knows what your life holds. You know I still don’t know why I’m in Dublin. I still don’t know what my purpose is here. But that’s it. We don’t know. We won’t know until it is all said and done. That’s what makes life fun, the unknowns. So while I search for jobs, try to plan my way from graduation, and all other endless life to do’s, I have to slow the worries and give it to Him. You should too. You’ll be amazed at the seeds he’s planted and the direction He’s leading you. Through the ups and through the downs, God is good. All the time.
