For four months he searched daily for work but was unsuccessful. Every Sunday he attended Church, even though he had to walk an hour to get there. On Sundays when he would phone home, his children would cry and beg him to come back. “I used to pray and fast frequently that I would find a job, but it seemed as if it was in vain. One day I remembered that my mission president had taught me that sometimes we have to ask God what He would have us do instead of us telling Him what we want Him to do for us. I then fasted, asking what He would have me do. During my prayer I had a strong feeling that I was needed back home in Zimbabwe. The feeling was so strong I found myself in tears.
“I then asked the Lord in a fast if He would give me a job to raise money for transportation to go back home. The next Sunday the Young Women president approached me and asked me what I do for a living. I told her that I was unemployed. Without me knowing, she made a poster advertising my profession. I got many jobs and in no time I raised enough money to go back home.”
After returning home, things weren’t immediately easy for him. They continued to struggle, but they were together as a family and that is where the Lord wanted him to be. He was called as Bishop, but expressed his doubts about accepting the calling, saying that he didn’t have a job, didn’t own a suit and his only white shirt was fraying around the collar. But he accepted the calling. Within a few months he was offered a good job. He said that he went from rags to manager! The Lord could bless him when his path became the same as the path that Heavenly Father wanted him to take.
How many times do we make plans for the future, just to see them disappear and go in an entirely different direction? We think we know what we want in this sojourn in life, but God in His wisdom gives us exactly what we need. One reason God may not give us what we want is because we don’t know enough. All we know are the circumstances in which we are right now, but God has an eternal perspective. He knows what is best for us based on eternity rather than the fleeting desire of the moment. Our Father in Heaven is not a “Santa Claus” seeking to fulfill our wish list, but the loving Heavenly Father who knows what is best for us.