The Journey Continues
- katlynsaley
- Jul 23, 2014
- 4 min read
"But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be wear; they shall walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:31
It's been almost 11 months since I hit submit on my Peace Corps online application....11 months of thinking that I would be leaving in September of 2014. 11 months of excitement, 11 months of waiting, 11 months where I had nights of thinking "is this really what God wants me to do?" Its been almost 11 months.....
Well today God sprung one on me. Or i guess you could call it that. Today, I'm not too sure what to think. Today I again struggled with knowing if this is what God truly wants me to do with the next 27 months of my life. As many of you know I have been waiting for my placement and departure date. I have been working on my patience and understanding what it means to wait for God's timing. Afterall, His timing has to be better than mine. I absolutely believe that everything happens for a reason. I believe that God has a way about doing things the way that He wants them done. Whether that means He is testing your patience, or maybe He needs you for something else for awhile longer, He has a reason for it.
Today I emailed my recruiter about my placement and my departure date because, well, I am curious. I am anxious. I am excited. I want to know where I will be. I want to know when I will leave. I want all these answers. Well guess what? God had other plans. And you could say that the email wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear. My recruiter emailed back less than an hour later. She told me that right now I am currently being considered for medical programs departing January-March of 2015, but I will not know for sure until I have received an invitation. 2015? Yeah....i said that right. She said that I should hear from the placement office before November, and to stay patient because it is completely normal to not hear anything for months at a time. She said to keep in mind that the Peace Corps offices are medically and legally processing over 8000 candidates as well as preparing place tickets, passports, and visas. She promised that the Peace Corps is still interested in me as a potential volunteer, even if they aren't contacting me every month. She told me she knows it can be disheartening to not hear anything for a while.....
Disheartening? Yeah, you could say that. Or you could say I was frustrated. Or mad. Or sad. Or you could say that I honestly didn't really know what to think. Because that certainly is the case. The first thing that came to mind is that maybe God is giving me a sign that I'm not meant to go. That's exactly what my mom said too. "Maybe this is a sign," she said. But how could it be a sign, when I've talked to God about this for the last 11 months and even before? How could it be a sign that I am not supposed to go, when everything has led up to this calling. I do not think it's a sign to not go, but I do think God has a reason for me to stay for a while longer. Do I know the reason for that at this exact moment? Definitely not. Not even close. I have no clue at all. But because I trust in His plan for my life, I will be okay. I will continue to pray. I will continue to be patient. I will continye to wait for His timing.
After spending a significant amount of time in prayer, I decided to pick up my Bible. I opened the the book of James. If you have not read the beginning of the book of James (1:1-8) it talks about trials and how they can be "tests" designed to strengthen our faith. Just as Jesus was tested many times throughout His life, believers are often tested to make their faith more genuine.
In James 1:2-8 the Bible states, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him as God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."
We all have choices in life. We are blessed with the opportunity of free will. We can choose to let things defeat us. We can choose to be sad, be mad, and mope around with the trials that face us in life. We can choose to give up. To quit. OR....we can choose to count our blessings. We can choose to find joy in our trials. We can choose to look at the hiccups in our life plan for ourselves as a way of God telling us that He has something better planned. God is sovereign over all things, including trials. I will not be discouraged, but instead I will "Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and allow Him to strengthen my heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord!" Psalm 27:14.
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