A Dose of Satisfaction, Please.

If God is still talking… then He hasn’t given up on you yet and if you are a believer in God, then you should know that coincidences are the actual footprints of God in our lives.  So with that said, you don’t open up to the same page in a book twice and think nothing of it… at least I don’t.  I was actually browsing books for a gift and happened upon a title that caught my eye.  I took the book off the shelf, opened it up, appalled at the topic it opened to, shut it quickly and put it back on the shelf.  I continued browsing books and eventually came back to the first book.  I again, took the book off the shelf, opened it up to the exact same page and thought “Ok, maybe I need to read this” and so I did.  As with many stories I have to take you back to the beginning, which would be the prior evening. 

I was in bed reading Joel Osteen’s book, It's Your Time.  One of the main themes of the book is along the lines of as long as you are doing your best for God, He will create doors where walls once stood.  That particular night a sentence jumped out at me.  That sentence read: Your attitude determines whether you move forward in God’s divine plan or whether you stay put.  The next day while driving home from work I turned the radio dial to 95.7 to hear a daily broadcast from Bishop Brandon Porter.  His message that day was in regards to how ‘our little is preparing us for our lot’ and that when God gives us something, whether it be a small thing or a huge thing, we are suppose to make it better than it was before.  In other words, we are suppose to do our best for God knowing that there is a reason this task was given to us and not someone else.  This reminds me of Steve Jobs when he said you just have to have faith that the dots are going to connect somewhere in the future.  Anywho, like I said I was driving home and on the way I stopped by Barnes & Noble to pick up a book for my mother.  I was actually planning on picking up Joyce Meyer’s Battlefield of the Mind Devotional, but the store did not have it in stock and so as I browsed the rest of her books my eye immediately fell on Be Anxious For Nothing.  After opening up to the same page twice I decided to read that page against my will and it told me that while we are waiting on the Lord we are suppose to bear the fruits of the Spirit and not walk around angry, miserable and defeated.  Hmmm…. Right then and there I knew God was really speaking to me.  

I had recently told Him that while I used to pride myself on being on the scenic route in life that I was no longer enjoying the ride and that I was ready for the direct route.  I told Him I had goals that I wanted to accomplish and that I was even interested in having a husband, possibly even a family and a place to call my own where I don’t get attacked for putting too much of my stuff in the fridge.  Most of my friends spent their twenties climbing the ropes in their preferred careers whereas I spent my twenties doing everything but my preferred career.  My friends are now enjoying the fruit of their labor while I have a whole lot of labor and absolutely no fruit: Nothing to be proud of or enjoy.  I feel like I’ve been on a loopty loop for ten years, seriously.  Interestingly enough, it was the very day that I said this to God that all of the above began.  I personally believe that God is trying to tell me that the key to my getting off of the loopty loop and boarding the express rail is to start producing the fruit of the Spirit and keep producing them no matter what.  

And I do have to admit that it has been these last ten years of personal and career dissatisfaction that have helped me get rid of the shyness and timidness that plagued me for most of my younger years.  In fact, I can say that had I not had these ten years of “ugh” I would not be mentally, emotionally and spiritually ready for where I am headed.  I can also say that even though I personally did not care for what I did career wise, I sure did learn a whole lot that I can take with me because everything I’ve done is of the universal kind.  From overhauling a human resource department to helping run a utility construction office, I’ve either worked in or been exposed to every possible department within a business and I have a feeling that this experience is what is going to land me my next job only this time I’ll be in a preferred position, within a preferred company and in a preferred industry.  I will have gotten off the loopty loop, boarded the express rail and finally be in a position to make something of this life that I am living.  But as God has beaten over my head, it all starts with the fruit.  Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control…These are the fruits of the spirit and we are to produce them no matter what.  Life doesn’t wait to start until you are in your perfect position so neither should your production of spiritual fruit.  You just have to know that where you are right now is preparing you for where you are going and once you get there you’ll have the ability to look back and just marvel at how much God knows and just how much we do not.  

And sense I'm being honest here, I do have to admit that this post was birthed about a month ago and there have been several instances since then where God has tapped me on the shoulder regarding the whole doing your best for Him no matter how much you detest your current circumstances.  As far as He is concerned until you are out of those circumstances you are suppose to be doing your best for Him no matter how much you want to burn down that building, shoot that boss or strangle that coworker.  And wouldn't you know, here I sit about 8:45 pm on May 30th half listening to Piers Morgan Tonight while reading through this post very aware of a slight stay of execution regarding my move west and BAM!  Crap!  I mean if I'm going to put something in my blog I should be practicing that which I preach so I am going to do my best from this day forward to be my best in my current so-ready-to-be-out-of-here circumstance until I am actually out of the circumstance and if I happen to find myself in another similar position until I get my footing in Los Angeles, then so be it.  I 'll just keep producing spiritual fruit knowing at some point the tides will turn and I will get the personal and career satisfaction I desire.  



P.S.  All praying folk are welcome to pray for traveling mercies as I make my way across the country sometime this month and while you're at it… a job with benefits would be nice too!   Love, Light & Laughter to all my readership!