No Good Thing Withheld

Afew weeks ago, I saw a job posting for a position I thought would be perfect for me. It was a great mix of what I was passionate about as well as my professional strengths, and it also spoke to an ongoing prayer I’d had regarding my desire to shift career paths from working for a paycheck to working for a purpose. The only drawback was that the position was full time, something I felt was still a few years away from being ideal for our family. My youngest child is only four, and the ability to balance the responsibilities of the position with the needs of my family concerned me. Overall, however, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. I applied, asking God to take care of the details if the role was where He wanted me.

I was pleased with how I performed during the interview process and became more excited about the opportunity with each step. A few days after my second interview, I received a very kind email expressing that while I was great candidate, the hiring decision had been made challenging due to the number of qualified applicants. The position had gone to someone else.

I waited to feel the crushing disappointment that typically accompanies not getting something I really want. To my surprise, it never came. I had done my part in applying and interviewing to my best ability. The rest wasn’t up to me. It was up to God. He didn’t decide to keep me from getting the job. The job simply was never in His plan for me or my family right now.

Lord, we are so grateful to have an all-knowing God in charge of where our lives take us. Thank you for the opportunity to learn from Your plan and seek Your will for our lives. I pray that we find peace and contentment in Your plan even when it differs from our own plan. I pray that we keep our eyes open to the blessings that are just as plentiful from what we don’t receive as the blessings from things that we do.

It’s easy for us to equate God’s promises of goodness with the promise of getting what we want, but that’s not His definition of goodness. God’s goodness is not limited to prosperity or our every desire – it reaches far beneath the surface of our lives into our hearts and spiritual welfare. He doesn’t look at the small picture but rather the big one – His plan for us is ongoing, stretching far beyond our wants in the moment. He knows what is waiting just around the corner where we cannot see.

I had asked God to work out the details if that job was where He wanted me. He answered my prayer perfectly. The details He wanted me to focus on were not how I would manage the job, but what I could learn from His management of my life by not getting the job. I trust that He has me right where He wants me now, and in His time, the opportunity that is in His plan for me will come.