LORD, why do you stand so far away? Why do you hide your face in times of trouble? Psalm 10:1-2 HCSB
The Bible tells us that we are to submit to God. Submitting means that we trust wholeheartedly in His plan for our life. It means that we don’t question, we trust. But I will admit that there were times in my life where I just couldn’t help but crying out to God and asking Him, “Why?”
Over 20 years ago, I wanted a certain job. The job had a cutoff age and required a bachelor’s degree. This was no problem because I was below the cutoff age and I had a bachelor’s degree. But as I began applying for this job I learned that most of those that applied had master’s degrees so with my bachelor’s I couldn’t compete. No problem, I went to work on a master’s degree. Two months prior to obtaining my master’s degree, I got an interview. It should have been a panel interview, but for some reason the panel was not there and it was the regional administrator. He liked the answers I gave in my interview, but could not hire me at that time because I did not yet have my master’s degree. He all but assured me that I would be a shoe-in once I got my degree. He told me that he anticipated at least one more opening within their office in the next 3-6 months. The opening came, I interviewed with the panel as the administrator was not there. Two weeks later, I got my rejection letter. I called the administrator. His wife had been very ill and he had been in and out of the office for the last two months. He was disappointed that I had not contacted him prior to my last interview, but said that now they were getting a lot of attorneys and PhD’s applying for this job. He told me that the person that got hired had a PhD in Psychology. I was aging out, so I had no recourse. I was not going to ever get this job. I was so upset. I just didn’t understand why God had allowed me to waste all that time getting a master’s degree and then had not allowed me to get the job. I mean I had worked full time and gone to school full time which means I had no life for 5 semesters. I had spent every waking moment that I was not at work, working on my degree. And it had all been for nothing.
Well, I discovered from my boss that our agency paid an additional 10% once we got a master’s degree, so I did get a raise. And truth be told, I was in a job that I really liked I had just wanted to make more money.
When that job became unbearable due to major changes in policy and operating procedure, God opened the door for me to go into another job which I loved. And then I was surprised to find out that I was going to be able to retire at the age of 45, 4 years earlier than I had anticipated.
Now it would be 16 years after I obtained my degree that I understood the why and all I could say was, “Wow!” God had seen my future and worked everything out perfectly for me. He had revealed His master plan and I must say that He had taken very good care of me.
If I had gotten that other job, I would have been working out of state and would not have been eligible for retirement for 20 years, ten years longer than I had to work in the job in which I had remained. Since I have retired, I have had to assist in taking care of my niece who almost died of an infection when she was three weeks old. After she got better, my dad got sick and died six months later. After his death, my mom suffered with depression, broke her hip and was diagnosed with dementia. God knew that I needed to retire earlier, He knew what my future held in the years ahead.
When I realized how God had taken such good care of me through all these years, I was amazed. I had felt so much hurt and anger and abandonment over not getting that job after putting so much hard work into my plan. But God had a much better plan.
Sometimes we don’t understand the why of what we are going through, but I assure you there is a wow coming your way. Trust in Him even when he feels far away. When you feel abandoned and alone, know that He is working all things out for your good (Romans 8:28). Know that He has good plans for you (Jeremiah 29:11). Trust in Him with all your heart (Proverbs 3:5). He won’t let you down and before you know it, your why will become your wow!
Have a great day!