Johnson: How did we know I was to go to seminary?
A story I have told thousands of times and still often asked about. This is a long story, so I have broke it up into 'chapters'. I would love to hear your response to how God has led us.
The Problem – Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;"
Diana & I believed God was leading us to move to Fort Worth Texas, that I was to attend seminary there, but there was a few problems – how was this going to work out?
We had made a commitment to God early in our marriage that when we had children Diana would stay home with them and we would live on whatever income God brought us through me. But now, how will this move to Fort Worth work, how will I go to school and provide for my family? We did not believe God was releasing us from this commitment of how we were to raise our children and yet he was leading us into what seemed like an impossible situation.
Late one night, Diana & I were laying in bed talking about this situation, and I said we need a miracle for this to work, not just to work but to know that indeed God is leading us in this way. It has got to be big enough to show it is his hand at work doing things only he could do. We prayed and asked him to move and we would be willing to respond in faith and obedience.
Sometime later, I was having lunch with a friend. It was late April, 1997, some months after our late night prayer. My friend was a retired businessman who had been very successful in business and part of our church. He knew of our plans to move to Texas and so he asked how things were going.
From my business and project management background, I had planned many aspects of our move and I pulled out the family Gantt chart of schedules and milestones to guide our move. I had a line for the house, when I would do certain repairs and things around the house, it showed when I would put it on the market and when it would sell (aw, in such a perfect world). The chart had a line for our family, things we wanted to do before we left, garage sales, packing…, there was a line for my career, things I needed to transition, when I would turn in my resignation, my last day…, moving a family seemed like getting the Titanic to turn, it takes time and miles. There was also a line item on getting a new job in Fort Worth, sending resumes a date when I hoped to have a job lined up, but this line was very ‘shaky’. When my friend got to this line he asked “so, what is going on here?”
I explained this was my greatest concern, it seemed like not much was coming together. I shared how I had made a trip to Fort Worth and talked to a couple of people about jobs in a church and another ministry, but nothing really seemed to be coming together. I said “it looks like we will just move there, I will get a part time job, have Diana get a part time job and we will just hunker down and go for it.”
He looked at me and asked “so, do you think God is calling you to a life of poverty?”
An appropriate question that took me by surprise, while I knew things would likely be tough, I hadn’t really thought about it in those terms.
“No, I don’t think so.”
“then” he replied, “you need to go down there and find a job that will provide for your family” he said. “There are companies out there who are looking for people like you, with your skills, abilities and personality. They will pay you a good salary and work around your schedule, but they are not going to be advertised in the paper, they are out there and they are looking for someone like you, and you need to find one of those jobs.”
Well, that seemed like good advise, and I was hoping he would then say “and why don’t you call one of these guys and tell them I told you to call…” because he could likely do that, but he didn’t.
Still that seemed like good advise so I made plans to take a weeks vacation and go down to Fort Worth and look for one of these jobs that I didn’t know how to find.
What happens next? ~ read Johnson 2 ~ The Prayer
The Problem – Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;"
Diana & I believed God was leading us to move to Fort Worth Texas, that I was to attend seminary there, but there was a few problems – how was this going to work out?
We had made a commitment to God early in our marriage that when we had children Diana would stay home with them and we would live on whatever income God brought us through me. But now, how will this move to Fort Worth work, how will I go to school and provide for my family? We did not believe God was releasing us from this commitment of how we were to raise our children and yet he was leading us into what seemed like an impossible situation.
Late one night, Diana & I were laying in bed talking about this situation, and I said we need a miracle for this to work, not just to work but to know that indeed God is leading us in this way. It has got to be big enough to show it is his hand at work doing things only he could do. We prayed and asked him to move and we would be willing to respond in faith and obedience.
Sometime later, I was having lunch with a friend. It was late April, 1997, some months after our late night prayer. My friend was a retired businessman who had been very successful in business and part of our church. He knew of our plans to move to Texas and so he asked how things were going.
From my business and project management background, I had planned many aspects of our move and I pulled out the family Gantt chart of schedules and milestones to guide our move. I had a line for the house, when I would do certain repairs and things around the house, it showed when I would put it on the market and when it would sell (aw, in such a perfect world). The chart had a line for our family, things we wanted to do before we left, garage sales, packing…, there was a line for my career, things I needed to transition, when I would turn in my resignation, my last day…, moving a family seemed like getting the Titanic to turn, it takes time and miles. There was also a line item on getting a new job in Fort Worth, sending resumes a date when I hoped to have a job lined up, but this line was very ‘shaky’. When my friend got to this line he asked “so, what is going on here?”
I explained this was my greatest concern, it seemed like not much was coming together. I shared how I had made a trip to Fort Worth and talked to a couple of people about jobs in a church and another ministry, but nothing really seemed to be coming together. I said “it looks like we will just move there, I will get a part time job, have Diana get a part time job and we will just hunker down and go for it.”
He looked at me and asked “so, do you think God is calling you to a life of poverty?”
An appropriate question that took me by surprise, while I knew things would likely be tough, I hadn’t really thought about it in those terms.
“No, I don’t think so.”
“then” he replied, “you need to go down there and find a job that will provide for your family” he said. “There are companies out there who are looking for people like you, with your skills, abilities and personality. They will pay you a good salary and work around your schedule, but they are not going to be advertised in the paper, they are out there and they are looking for someone like you, and you need to find one of those jobs.”
Well, that seemed like good advise, and I was hoping he would then say “and why don’t you call one of these guys and tell them I told you to call…” because he could likely do that, but he didn’t.
Still that seemed like good advise so I made plans to take a weeks vacation and go down to Fort Worth and look for one of these jobs that I didn’t know how to find.
What happens next? ~ read Johnson 2 ~ The Prayer
Comments