By Heather Colburn
I never stop being amazed at all the ways that God finds to answer our prayers. Most recently, He planned a huge answer to prayer for our family BEFORE we even prayed it. And He even did it with a sense of humor!
At the beginning of this school year, I had gotten a teaching job that was online and very flexible. I was excited to have some freedom this year while our kids were back in school. I had it all planned: some working, some exercising, time for errands, maybe even a little free time once in a while.
Then just 4 days before school started, I got a call from a friend who is the principal at a small Christian school in Fort Collins. She still hadn’t found a teacher for one of her classes. She wanted to know if I would consider this last-minute position. Even though I had been looking forward to only one online teaching job, I asked her more about the position. Her answers actually made me laugh out loud!
You see, I am an elementary teacher. God created within me the love of working with young kids. I like fourth grade and below, but most recently I have discovered a love of teaching Kindergarten. It’s pretty amazing teaching kids how to read!
Well, guess what position my friend needed to be filled ASAP? It was teaching science, which was my very worst subject when I was in school. And it was for middle school students: grades 6th, 7th, and 8th. You really can’t get further from my abilities and experience than to ask me to teach middle school science classes!
Long story short: I said yes to the job. I prayed and thought about it so much and felt in my heart with certainty that I was supposed to take this job. The funny part was that this didn’t make any sense to me. Why would God want me to take a job that I wouldn’t like, that was beyond my experience and what I love to do?
I found out a few months later exactly why He placed me in that school at that time. I’m sure it was partly to help my friend and to help the middle school students, but even bigger than that, He knew that one of my own kids needed to attend this school. I would never have known that part-way through the first quarter, we would need to make a dramatic change for our son Carter because his school situation was not healthy for him. I had never even visited this new school before so it wouldn’t have been on our radar for Carter. We would’ve been stuck without a Plan B when Carter needed a new school option.
The beautiful part about this story is that before Rande, my husband, and I even prayed for an answer to Carter’s school dilemma, God had already provided an answer! He placed me in what I thought was the most absurd teaching position so that I could be ready to prepare the way for Carter to join me at that school.
Carter has been at this new school for only a couple weeks now, and I have seen God’s hand in so many ways already. From the sweet kids in his class, to the teachers, the workload and schedule, this school was hand-picked for our son by God. The way that He led Carter here was not a path I would have ever chosen or thought of, but I can see now how He was leading us here all along … even before we asked.
I hope this experience reminds you how God loves you so much, that He already has a plan for you and a solution before you even ask for His help. You can trust Him with what comes next! I have seen this year His incredible providence to be at least 10 steps ahead of me, always ready with what He knows my family will need next. We are so loved and tenderly cared for to serve a personal God like that!
Isaiah 65:24: “Before you call, I will answer. While you are still speaking, I will hear.”
—Heather Colburn is a member of The Adventure Church, Greeley, Colorado. Article is republished by permission and appeared first in The Adventure Church eNewsletter, January 21, 2023. Photo from iStock.
