Closing doors

When it comes to directing someone, sometimes shutting a door works as well as opening one.

I didn't really plan to work at camp this summer. I had a good job as a framer and I planned to work this summer since I got to play at camp all last summer. j/k! (For any of you who haven't worked at camp and might be thinking it's all fun and games, it's not! Not that it can't be fun or exciting, because it definitely can be – especially depending on who you have in your cabin – but there's a lot of responsibility and energy involved. It is definitely rewarding, but you come away from it very tired. . . sort of like a job. About the only difference is that the one pays a whole lot better!)

Anyway, I thought it made a lot of sense to work this summer. Apparently God didn't. The carpentry job went the way of all construction jobs right now – an abrupt nose dive – and nothing else looks much better. I did a very broad search for jobs on the internet the other day and came up with one or two for each of the three categories I thought I might remotely fit in. I found out just how remote when I saw what they were and what the requirements were! Right now the options look like working at camp or sitting around with not much to do all summer – and that's not even an option for me!

I guess I should have seen it coming. When I was asked about working at camp this summer, I made a deal with God that if He wanted me there He would have to take away any job possibilities. Unless something changes drastically and very soon, I would have to say that's exactly what He did. He's faithfully provided lots of very part-time work for me right now, but nothing full time or long term. It's not that I don't want to work at the camp, I worked there once before and loved every minute of it, I just assumed God would see things my way (silly me!).

Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, saith the Lord.”
If I took that verse alone, I might think that God just likes confusing people. However . . .

Jeremiah 29:11 “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” As long as He knows what it is, I guess I don't have to.

Oh well, time to go see if there are any more applications I can fill out . . . just in case. After all, I might have this figured all wrong. It wouldn't be the first time. Who knows, I might find one that doesn't require five years of experience and three years of training.