Babel

A few months ago I interviewed for a position at my company. I made through to the final interview but did not get the job. Though I really wanted the position I decided that it wasn’t the right time and moved on. almost 4 months later, completely out of the blue, I got a call from the hiring manager for that position and was asked if I was still interested in the job. Of course, I emphatically declared “yes!” The hiring manager forwarded my information to HR and started the ball rolling for me to move into the new position. My wife and I were so excited; this was a huge opportunity that meant more stable work schedule, a much higher salary, and a greater peace of mind that things would be “easier”. We rejoiced that God had dropped this job back into our laps. We prayerfully thanked Him for His faithfulness and mercy. We told friends and family that had been praying for us that God had answered those prayers in a big way. I shared the news at work that I would be moving to a different department in a couple weeks and, under advisement of HR, began the process of termination from my current position to move into the new one. All-in-all things were looking up and though we didn’t quite understand the timing, we were grateful that God had worked it out. Then Monday morning came. My phone rang about 9 am, I recognized the number as a work number so I quickly answered not a bit prepared for what I would hear on the other end. It was a person from our HR department calling to let me know that after reviewing the information forwarded to them by the hiring manager that they, HR, had decided to override the recommendations of the department and withdraw the offer of employment. Though no sensible reason was given I gave a terse “thank you” and hung up the phone. I phoned my wife, completely devastated.
Why had this happened? Why was this job dangled in front of us like a carrot and then so dramatically taken away? What was God thinking? How could He do this to us? The questions kept coming without answers. Our faith was stretched to its breaking point. My anger was tempered by sadness as I tried to understand why this had happened; what had we done wrong? A couple days after the news, we left for our spring vacation. We decided that the vacation would be a good distraction from the heartbreak. We returned from out trip with a new energy and had decided that though we still didn’t understand, we did still trust that God was working all things for our good. A few weeks had passed and I was having a conversation with someone and she reminded me of a scripture that I had read many times before. 9 verses in Genesis that, on the surface, made for a cool story but contained a deep truth and what I believe the answer to the “why” that we were so desperately seeking.
Genesis 11 1-9

{1} Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. {2} As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. {3} They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. {4} Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” {5} But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. {6} The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. {7} Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” {8} So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. {9} That is why it was called Babel That is, Babylon; Babel sounds like the Hebrew for confused.—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

The truth that I was realizing in that moment was one that would change the direction of our lives. The question that I now had was not if God had provided the job in the first place but if it was God that took it away? We were so convinced that since this job was so good and met so many of our immediate needs that it must have been God answering prayers. Naturally we would assume that since the answer to our prayer was exactly the answer we wanted then it must have been God. The scripture shows us that people can do a lot apart from God. People can make things happen without ever seeking His counsel. I’ll take it a step further and say that people can even do good things without consulting God. Clearly, building a city and a tower to the heavens isn’t a bad thing in and of itself. It was providing infrastructure, shelter, the means for feeding the people. I’m sure there was sound government and probably good social programs to care for the people in need. The only problem was that God was taken out of the equation. Communication is also the key, the peoples’ ability to speak to one another and to clearly understand each other was making it possible for them to work together and accomplish great things. What God knew, however, is that there was a larger picture that He was painting and these people were only seeing their small part of the whole. God knew that although the immediate pains were eased there was a greater, much better plan that awaited the world and that a determined few, even with the best of intentions, could jeopardize those plans. In our case, this job was good and could have lead us to a better place financially, we could have done some good things with our house, been more comfortable and secure. We could have been able to give more at our church and been able to participate more on Sundays and Wednesday evenings. But, and there is really no getting around this, was this the best? Was is what HE wanted for us? Did this lead us to a place that put us in the best position to fulfill the plans that God had for us? The commitments that we, as a couple, made to each other and to God demanded that we not settle for better, but that we always seek His best. The path of least resistance, though easy and safe, was not where God was leading us. This has lead us to as much bigger questions and to expand our thoughts and prayers in ways that we never thought possible. It has also lead us to a place of much deeper faith and reliance on God for direction. The challenge of understanding the will of God has and always will be discerning what is and isn’t God in a given set of circumstances. What any law enforcement officer or banking employee will tell you when trying to detect counterfeit money or merchandise is that there are tools that can help figure out what is fake, but the most effective tool is to study the genuine articles until they master the look of the real thing. Then, when they see the fake, they recognize it immediately. the same is true with God. Know Him, walk with Him, talk to Him. Recognize His voice so that when any other voice tries to lead you astray you can know immediately.
God, I pray that all who read this will not settle for better but will, in all things, seek the best that you have set out for them. I pray that even though things are hard, they will trust You and be led by You, knowing that You are holding them close to you.