The year was 1994 and I moved from my hometown where I had lived all my life to the big city of Sydney to attend Bible College. I was leaving a season of stability, familiarity and security to begin a chapter of the unknown. I was up for the adventure but there were certainly feelings of trepidation that I had to overcome.
I worked part-time to support myself but I needed a permanent part-time position so that I could have a secure weekly income. A position became available for an Assistant in Nursing at a local nursing home. I had no nursing experience, had not spent a lot of time with elderly people but I decided to apply for the position. I got the job….God had answered my prayer.
After the first day of orientation I remember driving home thinking to myself, “how am going to do this job?”. It certainly was not my dream job or a place that I looked forward to going to. However, over time God used this opportunity to mold and shape my character. At Bible College, I was learning a lot of theory but it was at the nursing home that I lived what I was being taught. Romans 15:1-2 (MSG) says, “Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, “how can I help?””.
Our strength is for service, not status – I learned the greatest lesson over those years that my life is not about me, it is always about others.
Three year later, I graduated from College and moved to the United States of America. Yes, the girl who had never left her hometown moved to the other side of the globe to be obedient to the voice of God. I am comforted in the knowledge that God knows us. He knows the faith we need to exercise and the endurance we need to cultivate in order to step out into the unknown.
There is a great scripture in 1 Corinthians 10:13 (MSG) that says, “No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.”
Sweetheart, be bold…be brave….step out and God will be with you all the way!!!
Devoted Devotional By Rachel Brown