Sometimes Things Just Don’t Work Out is a guest post by Aaron Shaver (@shaversrazor), who blogs at aaronshaver.com.  I’ve known Aaron for several years and I think you’ll enjoy what he has to say.  Aaron a youth minister, an actor, a new father, and is really passionate about Jesus.  He and his Elaina wife live in Nashville, TN along with their new son.

Sometimes Things Just Don’t Work Out

Lately, I’ve found most of my day is spent wondering what’s coming next. My wife and I are often fielding our own questions about finances and career choices over the dinner table. And, we see in our own life a lot of uncertainty that may be familiar to many folks during hard economic times.

It’s hard to know –I mean REALLY KNOW – what to do in every life-choice we come across.

• Do we save for a new car or trade in now for what we can get?
• Should one of the parents stay at home and take care of the kids?
• Should I take that new job or go back to school?

Not to mention all the less life altering, though just as tough, choices that bombard us day in and day out.

As Christians, I feel like we are sometimes led to believe that all our tough life-choices simply need to be called in to God and He’ll call back with an unmistakable holy baritone voice (ala Liam Neeson/James Earl Jones) and tell you exactly which choice to make and paint a road map to get you there with as little fuss as possible.

I just don’t think God works this way.

God has a destiny for us –collectively and individually. God has called us according to His purpose. Unfortunately, that is not always clear. That’s why is called FAITH.

I often think back to something my wife experienced when we first started dating…

It was a dark and stormy night in January and we had been dating all of one week…when Elaina received an email that rocked her world. It was an opportunity to join a professional theatre company in Florida. It seemed GREAT! She was finally going to be able to have a full time job using her degree and doing what she loved-performing. It was a hard decision for her because it would mean leaving me in Tennessee (and though we’d only just started dating, I am a BIG DEAL). It would mean leaving her family and friends and starting a new life and adventure. But it was also an offer she couldn’t refuse. Ultimately, she knew she would go-after all this would be doing what God wanted her to do. She would be using the gifts and talents He gave her and she felt led to go there.

Then she got there.

It was, shall we say, less than advertised.

• The living conditions of the company housing were awful.
• The shows the company performed used music that they had not paid the rights for and were therefore illegal.
• And, after she had been there only 1 week, the owners sat down the company and let them all know that times were “lean” and that until they booked some more shows no one would be paid… not a good sign.

It was also a situation where the other members of the company were used to this sort of treatment and were seriously afraid to say anything about the way they were being mistreated.

So after roughly 2 weeks and much prayer and council, Elaina spoke with the owners and the director of the company directly about the issues facing her and the others of the company. The conversation was not well received and she booked a flight home. Over the next few days, Elaina discovered that other members of the company gained a sense of liberation. The stand that Elaina took with the company directors inspired several others to also stand up and leave as well.

Neither Elaina nor I know the full extent of why God had her go down there…and then come back so quickly. It could be that she needed to help the others of the company realize they were being mistreated. It could be that she needed to go down there because God asked her too and she needed to be obedient. It could be that she needed to choose to go instead of stay around with a guy she’d only been dating a week.

For Elaina, this had no road map. It was very stressful, very disappointing, but in the end, very rewarding for her and our relationship, which ended up pretty well. She didn’t hear a voice in Holy Baritone nor did she need one to know that she needed to go to Florida and then come back. Faith gave her direction to go when she felt led to go.

Where has faith led you to go?
What did you find when you got there?