Flipping back to my handwritten journals, I saw an entry from this past summer. It was an early morning trail walk that turned out to be the perfect lesson for me.

Pulling up to one of my normal trails, I saw a ‘closed’ sign. The trail was closed due to recent floods. Construction cones, signs, and orange fences literally blocked the place I had planned to sit and read my Bible with my beagle before going on a nice walk. It felt like God was like, ‘Nope, that plan and path is not what I have in store for you this morning, Melanie.’

So we pulled up to a second favorite trail, and it was not closed! But that’s when I looked down at my feet and realized I didn’t switch to the right shoes before heading out the door. I was not prepared! I pushed that thought out of my mind because we were going, especially after driving to a second location, prepared or not, we were doing this! Again, it was like God was whispering that even when I feel like I’m not prepared or don’t have the right tools, He’s gonna make it happen, so just take that first step on the trail. 

As I crunched on the trail in my flip flops, I popped my earbuds in to catch a podcast or maybe just some worship music. I pushed play and nada! Earbuds dead, not charged, ugh!! I literally should turn around and go home; too many things are not going my way at this point.

Then a thought popped into my head: God’s been whispering to you all morning, so just use this for a prayer walk instead. So I started to pray and talk to God about a job I was considering at the time I was journaling, a position with Student Ministry. BLANK. My mind was blank, I had no words for God. I knew I wanted to talk to Him about whether I should take this position at my church, even though I did not feel prepared or equipped for it, but I wanted to hear from God if it was for me or not. I had to pray, but as the song says, “all my words fell short” (Brandon Lake, Gratitude). I didn’t know how to even start my prayer.

That’s when I did a skill that I am pretty good at, actually. I stopped and LISTENED. I was quiet, silent, as my feet walked along the path ahead of me. That is what God was trying to do all along that morning. I kept trying to do all these other things and He just wanted me to listen for this message from Him: SLOW DOWN, quit trying to do it all alone, surrender to God, have faith in God’s Timing, take one step at a time, and be ready for something new, something amazing, something led only by God, something that is for His Kingdom. 

Fast forward to today. That job that I was writing about in this journal entry last summer, that I was stressed about, worried I wasn’t enough, and trying to pray to God about, well, that’s exactly where God led me. I am an Associate Director of Student Ministry, the exact position from this journal entry, and I am so glad and blessed that I took that day to slow down and listen to God. 

It was the first moment God told me to take that step and see what He had in store for me. I absolutely love my ‘job,’ and I put those quotes around job because it does not feel like a job at all. I am blessed to be able to do something every day that I have a deep passion for. I absolutely had and have the skills needed for this position and am continually learning, which I love. God built all my skills in such a different way that looking at it now was brilliantly orchestrated by Him as usual. 

God, please help me continue to recognize the moments and days you need me to stop and listen to you. Thank you for loving me so much and talking to me in so many ways until I finally listen. I pray that you continue to guide me to help others hear your voice and plans for their lives, too. Amen.

See ya in the next post, with

✝️Lots of Faith & Lil’ Bit of Fur 🐾,

Melanie Drews-Paws on God’s Path