In November I posted about an upcoming interview that I was preparing for as part of my job. I spent hours preparing, pouring over the “right” answers to the questions that may be posed, talking to the people I trust to help guide me in my spiritual growth and then trusting that God would guide me to answer appropriately.
Yesterday dawned bright and clear, I was feeling nervous but extremely hopeful! I’d spent the night before re-reading my study notes with confidence that I could answer the questions they threw at me with some sense of confidence. I arrived at my destination with plenty of time to glance over my notes one last time and then relax. I was greeted and introduced to the four individuals who would conduct my interview and the usual pleasantries followed. I gave them a synopsis of my life, my family, my journey to my current position…then they dove right in.
This is about where I’ll end the commentary and say that I am so thankful that my guarantee of entry into Heaven was so much easier than facing this panel of individuals. I’m very glad that God has given me the reassurance of salvation beyond my futile efforts at remembering references down to the chapter and verse or memorizing word for word large portions of scripture or the entirety of scripture. I am a proponent of scripture memory, there’s no question about that, but I will be the first to admit that it is not my strong point and from the first question asked of me I felt frozen in place by my inability to answer correctly many of the questions initially asked.
I feel blessed that God honored my desire to serve him and the prayer that I prayed as I drove in, that He would allow my passion for the children I serve and my love for Him to shine through despite anything I might say. That answer to prayer was my saving grace when it came down to the wire. I can celebrate that I was successful in fulfilling the obligation I had, to meet those specific requirements as part of my employment but I was reminded again, through this process that God is gracious. That He alone holds the knowledge of the world, that He has no expectation of any human being to accurately and adequately explain who He is and what His purpose is. That faith is much simpler than that and as believers we can hold tight to His ability to reveal himself to us in many, many ways. One of the verses that will be forever burned into my brain (mainly because it was one of the many that I could not direct the panel to) is Hebrews 11:1 and it reaffirms to me my responsibility to God but also the basic truth of everything I stand for.
My beliefs and knowledge of scripture may come into question (by those both for me and against me), I may be asked to explain what has led me where I am today, somebody may want to know whether my theology is correct or incorrect and really I’m okay with being held accountable and questioned but what I am most relieved about is that the ultimate judgement and questioning comes from the One who created me, the One who knows me inside and out, the One who loves me more than anything else. My hope and joy remains with the One who is PERFECT!
Way to go Elise! I can’t even imagine how daunting the panel would have been, but good for you for giving it to God. He obviously wants you right where you are for this moment! As a parent of kids at Heritage I am SO thankful for your commitment to both them and God. Congrats:)