When I first got married, I didn’t have a job. So I settled into the role of housewife. Settled is probably the wrong word. I accepted my plight as housewife. But all around were voices (husband NOT included)  telling me I needed to get a job, help provide for the household...blah, blah, blah. By the time our first son came along two years later, I had happily accepted my role as stay-at-home mom. This after countless weeks, months even, searching for a job, any job. When one didn’t come, I realized I needed to stop stressing myself out over something that wasn’t happening.

One day while at home with my son, I received a phone call from the president of a large ministry here in Los Angeles. She had just had lunch with my former boss, who had recommended me for a job that she desperately wanted to fill. She asked if I’d be interested in the position. Above the din of two-year-old squeals. I agreed to meet her for an interview.

The interview went swimmingly. There was a daycare on site and the pay was far more than I would have ever asked for. And it was doing exactly what I wanted to do.

All that time I’d spent agonizing  over looking for a job just a few years before and here was a job that came knocking on my door.

O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.  You know when I sit or stand. When far away you know my every thought.  You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment you know where I am. You know what I am going to say before I even say it.  You both precede and follow me and place your hand of blessing on my head. Psalm 139:1-5 Living Bible

God went before me and prepared the way for the job. He set up the lunch meeting. He put it on my new boss’ heart to tell my old boss about the job opening and he brought me to the conversation with a good referral. All the while, I was at home, oblivious to the path being charted ahead of me.

Even all these years later, the course of events blows my mind.

God knew that when I had a child my desire was to stay home with my baby and I got the chance to do just that. He knows everything about me...every single desire, even the unspoken ones.

Lately, I’ve been forgetting this fact about God: that He paves paths where none previously existed. That He goes behind us to make sure nothing is left behind as we travel upon that path.

The King James version of verse 5 says: Thou hast beset me behind and before. Beset comes from the Hebrew word tsuwr which means  to shut in or secure.

God doesn’t just lay a path out for us. He goes with us as He protects us and guides on the way so we aren’t led astray. If you are living for Jesus, don’t ever think that you are wandering aimlessly through this life. There’s a path with your name on it. Just when it looks like the bridge is broken and there’s no way over, He lights the way and shows us just what He had in store for us all along.

*photo credit Viktor Hanacek