The stories you write
By Sharon Amanda
It’s these little things I never want to forget; It’s these mo-
ments I want to be reminded of when I am 80 years old and I
just want to remember how great you, my God are; really it’s
times like these I live for; times like these that once again
remind me that you are God and Nobody beats you at that.
Last year, God gave me a job, literally! God handed me a job
after a few hard months of uncertainty and darkness won-
dering why He had not done what I knew He could do. The
first few days of that wait were very hopeful but the last
were the worst. I looked like a fool for not doing what others
called ‘my best’. I applied for a few jobs online, interviewed
for some but was never picked. So, somehow I gave up and
instead started spending my days in my room watching ser-
mons and crying myself to sleep. It was a season I couldn’t
understand, a hard season nobody had prepared me for
when I fully surrendered my life to Christ a few months prior
to that. And one day, on a lazy afternoon, I got my weary self
out of my bed and decided to go look in the neighborhood if
there was any store hiring. I knew I didn’t have any chance,
but I did it so I could feel like I had tried that day. My first
stop was a grocery shop. I went in and started looking for
someone I could ask if they were hiring and the first person
I asked told me he wasn’t sure but that their company was
hiring. I was like, “oh, you are separate from this store?”, the
guy said, “yeah, we are a different company and I think we
are hiring”. He gave me the information of the manager, two
days later I had a job.
Something about the way I got that job made me fear the
Lord a little more because He showed me once again that He
can allow you to go through a long dark season waiting for
something He could do in a second. Something in the way
He gave me that job and how He sustained me without it
also somehow made me feel like this job was different, spe-
cial and was coming for a purpose and guess what? I was
right. A year and a few months later, This week is my last
week at that job, and I just can’t find words to express what
it has meant for me, how God has used it as a platform for
Himself, how He’s used it to mold me, shake dirt off me, and
speak things to me that one only gets to hear in Holy places.
Saying all this could maybe make you think I loved this job
so much; I didn’t. I have had many difficult experiences at
the job that have made me consider quitting so many times.
Just a few weeks ago, everyone I started with had left. There
was a new team, and the only old team member that was left
had just announced to me that she had put in her 2 weeks
notice.
I remember telling her that day from an emotional place
that I was going to quit too. I had been tired for a while and
watching everyone leaving made me want to leave too, but I
knew it was not that easy for me. I knew God had given me
the job and it was up to Him to tell me when to leave. I was
not like everyone else, and that day that didn’t feel like a
compliment at all. It was not about how I felt or the people
I worked with/for felt anymore, it was about God doing and
finishing the work He had started the very day I stepped into
that work place.
One thing I have learned is that there is a difference be-
tween the things we get ourselves and those God gives us.
The things God gives are very clear, you can’t ignore them
because they have His name written all over them. It’s in
the way He hands them to you, the way He sets them apart
from anything else you’ve known that lets you know that
something divine just got delivered to you and divine gifts
always come for a purpose. I wrote this with hopes that
you will know today that once you fully surrender your life
to Him, everything that comes your way has purpose. The
dark seasons, great seasons, jobs, schools, where you live,
the people in your life… EVERYTHING. This purpose is His
not yours and without seeking Him to know what to do with
what He’s given you, you find yourself following the crowds
and burning out.
A few weeks ago, I sat down minutes before work started
and started thinking of walking out and never come back.
My heart was screaming! I was tired; I didn’t want to work
there even for one more minute! I told God, I am sorry I
couldn’t get to the finish line! And He said, “You can do this!
And no, not yet! My assignments don’t end like that…”. And
today, standing at the finish line, I can’t agree more! God’s
divine assignments don’t end like that, they don’t end with
us. They end with Him. He has the last word; and the stories
He starts, He allows nobody to finish but Himself. Saying yes
to Him means we get to live ordinary stories with extraor-
dinary meanings. These stories are bigger than us, deeper
than we can ever fathom. They outlive us and never leave us
nor the places we’ve been the same.
Wow God! We did it