Seeing God’s signature

It’s amazing how quickly things can change in life. Within a few weeks, our lives can change dramatically – we can meet someone significant, we can lose or find a job, and for better or worse our whole situation in life is different. I have a story like this, something that happened to me very recently.

I have to tell you the story, because it has God’s signature written all over it.

My husband has been trying to get a full-time job for months now. He’s had a permanent part-time job, but with that he doesn’t make enough money to support us. And gradually I went from working four days to not even getting asked in at all. Pretty scary stuff! We had enough money to pay our rent, but that was all. Slowly but surely we were losing money – kind of the opposite of what we were hoping for.

Daniel kept applying for jobs, but nothing came of this. With each job he applied for, I thought to myself, ‘maybe this is the one’ – and I’d pray and pray, declaring provision in Jesus’ name. And every time, there was the inevitable crush of disappointment when he’d receive the email saying he wasn’t successful, or just heard nothing at all. I knew that I was to trust in God, that he would provide – but with every failed attempt, it was getting harder. It’s one thing to believe in God’s unfailing love in theory, it’s a very different story when it comes to real life right in the middle of the struggle.

Amidst all of this, we heard the news that the head librarian at Daniel’s work was pregnant. It seemed like a good opportunity, maybe Daniel could take over her job while she was on leave. The official job listing came out, with a thorough description of what it involved. Something about the way it was written made my husband doubt his abilities, and the job opportunity passed by without him applying. Someone else got the job. Still, the search for that elusive job continued.

Application after application, and there was no good news. I hadn’t got any teaching days either – just a few days of vacation care work over the summer. Things were starting to get serious. Would we be able to support ourselves living here? What else could we do?

But then, a few weeks ago, I was at home in the afternoon and I received a text message from my husband. It read “Don’t worry about cooking dinner. We’re going out to celebrate.” Instantly, hope was raised within me. What was this celebration he spoke of? My immediate thought was, maybe he’d been asked for an interview – that hadn’t happened in a long time. In his next message though, he told me something that I had completely ruled out.

It turns out that person who got the maternity leave job at his work, they’d just been offered a better job elsewhere – and they took it. The head librarian was just about ready to pop, so keeping her on until they interviewed for a new replacement wasn’t an option. So, with an urgent position to fill, the higher-ups of the college asked the part-time library technician – my husband!

So now, my husband has a full-time job! And, in that very same week, I got asked to come into work for the first time in months. My days at work have been steadily increasing. I look at our situation now, and I look back at where we were only a few weeks ago. I have no other response but complete awe when I see how much God has done for us.

This provision is grace, nothing else but undeserved grace. Daniel didn’t even apply for the job! When I think of all the things that must have been going on behind the scenes for this to happen – that person applying for and accepting that new job, the head librarian working nearly up to her due date. I can see God’s signature written all over this. I can now see how God was transforming me – growing my faith, my persistence in prayer, teaching me to rely on him. God’s signature written all over this.

It’s hard sometimes to see God’s signature in the middle of the struggle, the craziness, the time where you really don’t know if it is going to work out. When it’s hard to trust and hard to believe. But that is what we must do. We must keep trusting in God – and when it seems too hard, you can always ask him for the strength to keep going on. I don’t know what’s happening in your life, if there are situations where it’s hard to see God. I pray that it won’t be long before you can look back and see God’s signature. I pray that maybe you can see his signature, see all that he’s doing, even now.