An Answer to Prayer

One of the hardest things for me in my walk with God has always been my obsession with control. I'm a bit of a control freak, and relinquishing control, even to God, is difficult. I think this is why God has put me through all the events of the past year. So many changes came that I couldn't control and had to accept, yet as I gave these to God I found peace. Instead of worrying and fretting over what would happen next and how I would accomplish it, I began learning to let go and let God. Letting go control has brought me freedom, and trusting in Him has allowed me to see Him work in my life.

Even though I lost my job a week after my daughter started college, I chose not to worry about how we would manage financially. God began teaching me how to manage money so that I would be a good steward of His blessings. Over and over I watched God's hand in my family's life as He took hold of our situation and had a solution to everything. I had to learn what was a need and what was a want, and I realized much of what I had been spending money on was unnecessary wants. As my priorities changed, I learned responsibility and appreciation for all God provides, and as a result we were able to stay out of debt.

When, in March, my unemployment benefits ran out, He provided an unrequested extension. I was blown away at how God answered my prayer at the time. Then I asked how I was to proceed. God placed upon my heart to take the money from my benefits and not spend it; instead I was to put it all in our savings account and leave the rest to Him. Again, I chose to trust and obey, even though that meant giving Him control. As a result, we were able to save over $6,000 in a six month period, enough to pay for my daughter's school expenses for this semester and then some.

I had been applying all this time to different jobs with no success. Then something unexpected happened. My sister-in-law told me about a job opportunity at the company where she works. I was unsure what this meant: did God want me to go back to work? My unemployment benefits were again running out. Could it be this was God's way of saying it was time to go back into the work force? I admit I was confused, which brings on worry. Thankfully, though, the study of Discerning the Voice of God was useful to me at this time. I read about the ways to know when God is speaking to us: through prayer, reading Scripture, meditating on the Word, and worship. I decided to go on the job interview, then I prayed about it and left it at the foot of the Throne. If it was His will that I go back to work, then I would. Otherwise, I would trust Him again as before to lead us in the right direction. Meantime, I continued praying, reading the Word, meditating on it, and worshipping.

Today I received a letter, quite unexpectedly, regarding my unemployment benefits. Once again, without my having requested or applied, I received a 13 week extension of my benefits. God has let me know again that He is in control and is taking care of everything! I waited, and listened, and received a response loud and clear. What a wonderful God I have!

This isn't to say that I'll never go back to work; that's not my decision to make. It means that when I leave things in the Lord's hands instead of trying to manipulate and control them, the results are miraculous. God has taught me so much this past year; I can't imagine what else He has in store!