Sermon Recap: The Destruction

Questions, answers, and waiting.

Why? Why not? How come? When? These are all questions I get from my four year old. But are they questions that I feel comfortable asking God? Not always; but maybe they should be. The only problem though with questioning God, is being prepared for an answer. Or more specifically an answer that doesn’t fit into our plan. For several years I was in a job that, well, frankly I hated. It sucked the soul out of me. I asked God why I was stuck where I was more often than I can count, and in hindsight, the better question would have been “what do you want me to accomplish while I’m here?”

I think the problem is that often the questions we ask God are extensions of our notions of what God wants for us. They are “God can you get me out of the job” Or “God, why haven’t you fixed this situation yet?” God knows better than we do though, He knows the big picture and the whole story, and we certainly don’t. It turns out that God had me right where He wanted me. I was laid off. Right when I was asking for a new job, a better job, a job that was more fun, He gave me no job.  It was at that point, when I couldn’t see my next step, that I found a new path, I was forced to rely on God, and to really figure out where to turn, where to use the gifts that God has given me.

God wasn’t done yet. I still had a family to provide for, and while I now knew what work would bring me happiness, God wasn’t about to just hand it over to me. I had to learn my new trade, and providing for my two sons and my wife meant going back to the drudgery of the work I hated. Not only that, but it also meant working two jobs with the second being the vessel for gaining experience in the field that I loved. It was a stressful, difficult time, but God was with me. I know that now, but I definitely didn’t know it then. I cried out to God then, with ‘Why me’? And you know what I found? God was listening, despite my horribly selfish questioning, my impatience, my doubt in Him and myself.

As it turns out, God rewarded my lack of patience and struggle, but it took nearly 2 years. What I know now is that if it hadn’t taken that long, I never would have ended up where I am today, somewhere that I finally feel is an answer to my questions. I’m now doing work that I truly enjoy. I can now look back through the tough times, and see God’s hand in every aspect of it. Now that I have lived through that time, I can temper my future questions with the knowledge of what God has done for me in the past, and I will be quicker to praise him in spite of tough times.