“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”
– Proverbs 16:3 (NIV)

Earlier this week, I was having a conversation with a co-worker about the way things are right now – uncertain. We are getting accustomed to new leadership at work and both of our personal lives are filled with unanswered questions, and what appear to be a few roadblocks. As we talked, I shared the insistent nagging I have regarding the cost of tuition for my master’s degree classes and the fact that I still don’t know what God wants me to do with all this education. As much as I know He wants me to be learning it, I still have little knowledge about how He will be using all of it in my life. I admitted that at times, I question if He really wants me to be spending all this money just because I love the learning process.

When I arrived home that evening, I went online to pull up the booklists for two of the classes I will be taking during the upcoming fall semester. The first book listed for my class entitled “Discernment” was a title that sounded familiar to me. It reminded me of a seminar I attended a few years back. So, I went upstairs to my bookshelf and, don’t ya know, there it was. The book on spiritual discernment and decision making was sitting there, just waiting for me to pick it up. As I paged through it, I found my notes from that seminar and noticed that the date at the top of the page was February 2014. Amazingly enough, that seminar was just four months before I received a very clear message from God to enroll at Moravian Theological Seminary.

I noticed some highlighted areas in the book that suggested getting really honest with God, and asking for clear understanding of His will. I remembered praying each day for Him to guide me to where He wanted me to be. I remembered reading portions of the book and going back to Him over and over again because I knew deep down inside that there was something more He wanted me to be doing with my life. And, I remembered the morning in June of that year when I opened my mouth in prayer and simply said, “I’m ready God. I need you to be very clear with me. Please tell me what you want me to do next.” Less than fifteen minutes later, as I watched myself dry my hair in the bathroom mirror, His message traveled through me like a rush of brightly colored butterflies: “Enroll at Moravian!” That day, I called the college and made an appointment for an interview. Within two weeks, I had processed all the admission materials and was enrolled for the fall 2014 semester.

Perhaps it all fell into place because I attended that seminar and received the guidance I needed in order to communicate with God. Perhaps that book showed up on my booklist on the very night I was questioning myself as a message from God, “Yes, Jessica, you are in the right place. Just keep going.” Perhaps this journey I’m currently on is way bigger and more involved than I could possibly imagine at this point in my life. If anyone knows what I can and cannot imagine, it’s God. So, perhaps I just need to continue trusting Him and keeping the lines of communication open.