My job contract will expire in a few months. After I got back from my vacation in Hawaii at the end of March, I felt peace about my life—and then I immediately felt like I was spiraling out of control. I found out my housing situation was getting worse, my contract job wouldn’t be turned full time, and I had to figure out my future fast.
This is a familiar feeling, I said to myself. Not five years ago, I was in a similar situation. I was working a few freelance jobs, I needed a full-time job—I needed to decide if I was going to stay in Chattanooga or potentially move to Florida, where my family was living at the time. I got my church family together and they prayed over me in this decision. I wrestled for months to know God’s plan for my life, and then around July things started falling into place.
Since I had been in this situation before, I decided to go about it a different way. Instead of freaking out about it, I decided to plant my feet.
On vacation, I was reading this book “Blessed are the Misfits.” The book referenced this story in the Bible about Abraham negotiating with God about saving the people of Sodom and Gommorah from death. They went back and forth, before coming to an agreement. The author pointed out that God sometimes wants us to go through this—negotiating with God. He said, “God is shocking…He doesn’t just allow us to talk to Him; He lets us talk Him into things.” I also remembered the story of Jacob and how he wrestled an angel for his name.
I was going to have a talk with God.
I posted on Instagram, that I was really struggling with where this next part of my life was going to go. I asked for prayer, and I was amazed at how many people texted me or commented that they would. A friend texted me a prayer asking God to answer some specific prayers in two weeks.
Two weeks. This was it. I was going to have my Jacob moment, wrestling with an angel. I was going to have my Abraham moment and negotiate with God. I wrote down a list of what I was going to do.
-fast from social media
-ask a few people to be my warriors during this time
-limit the amount of television/YouTube I watched
-spend more time in the Word
-listen to positive music
I immediately deactivated my Facebook account, which was the most freeing thing to do. I logged out and deleted my social media apps off my phone. Suddenly, I had so much time.
I handwrote 9 letters to friends of mine, asking them if they’d be willing to support me through this time through prayer, encouragement, music, and whatever else.
And just like that, my journey began.
To be continued…
Lauren Brooks 