EXPECTATION...

If you have not noticed the theme for this month is regarding prayers and today I will be writing on expectations while praying. Expectations for answered prayers or for hearing from God. In this post, I will be sharing a testimony showing how expectations have helped me in the past). So for those who don’t know me personally (just realising I have not formally introduced myself in any of my posts), I recently concluded my Master’s programme in the UK. I came in September 2020, thankfully finished in August and by the grace of God, I am working as a Graduate Mechanical Engineer in my desired field. During my programme, I put in countless applications to numerous companies for a job which I hoped to start right after my master’s and for those who have gone through the process of job applications, REJECTION is a common but frustrating experience. Without boring you with the details of my frustration and feelings this period I will just jump straight to how I got this role. As expected I put in the application and after a couple of months, I was invited for the first interview. After the first interview, I was more than 100% sure that based solely on my efforts there was no way I was going to be called back, I continued to pray and I spoke to God honestly about how I wanted this job and reminded Him that I had asked for His help before the interview. Miraculously, I was invited for the second interview. When I tell you that after this interview, I had never been so sure of an outcome. I was 101% sure that I had gotten this job. My ‘expectation’ from the job interview was that it was successful. I started checking out houses in the area, how long and how much it would take to commute to and from the office, planning my monthly expense based on my ‘expected’ salary and preparing for when I was going to receive my offer letter beforehand. Also, at the time I was joining a daily morning prayer called Next Level Prayer, which I do recommend, it was impactful in my life and I was told to write a letter of congratulations to myself for whatever I am expecting from God. So I wrote a letter to myself just as if it were the company sending it to me and wrote my salary expectation and wrote that they offered me a sponsorship. So, in conclusion, my expectation from the interview was a Job offer and on the 30th of June (yes I remember the date) I received…you guessed it.......a.......REJECTION LETTER (E Shock you!). Ahhhhh, after all the work, after all the prayers, after all my planning, I have never been so confused. I was so certain an error had been made or they sent it to the wrong person or it was a spam message or something. That was the first time I have ever cried and laughed at the same time. I was crying because of the obvious but I was laughing at what, at the time, I classified as ‘my foolishness’, my ‘foolishness’ in believing that the job was mine, my ‘foolishness’ in planning for a job I had not yet received, my ‘foolishness’ when I spoke with friends and family and made statements like ‘ when I start my job I would …’ or ‘ By then I would be working’ or the likes. It was so painful, I cried and in my hurt, I asked God why he let this happen and almost as soon as I did, I remembered the story of Job (the person not the noun), and how he lost so much and his first response was praise and not questions. So in my tears, I said thank you to Him, for at least seeing me through the last stage, it was my first time getting that far in an interview process, I, however, said I would love for Him to give me a word so I can understand the situation better. So not necessarily a reason for it but a word for me to hold on to and that night I cried myself to sleep. I woke up crying and completely frustrated, you have to understand I had stopped applying for jobs at that time, that’s how sure I was. The next day I joined the morning prayer and as the pastor in charge was ministering he mentioned a bible passage and for some reason, I heard a completely different bible passage, I heard Isaiah 55: 8 - 11:

[8]For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. [9]“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. [10]As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, [11]so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55: 8 - 11 [NIV]

It was too specific not to be a word from God, so I held on to the word and like a ‘fool’ I went on believing that I was going to get a job soon. I was assured that regardless of how many rejection letters I got, because of God’s word specific to me I was going to get a job. Don’t get me wrong there were times when I lost faith and would cry and be frustrated but I put myself back together again ‘foolishly’. And just as the word says the things of the kingdom are foolishness to the world (1 Corinthians 2:14 paraphrased), so was it manifested in my life. At a point, I started ‘foolishly’ believing that I would get that job I had lost, I even started telling family members again that they would call me back, this was already over a month since I got the rejection letter, but I heard so many testimonies of people being called back from jobs and even about two of my friends had shared similar testimonies so it built my faith (Revelation 11:12). Then one day, after the morning prayers I was convicted to direct message the interviewers on LinkedIn, so I looked for their names in one of the emails I received before the interview. Now one of the two people that interviewed me was not supposed to interview me, he was standing in for someone else, so his name was not in the email. So I checked on LinkedIn for the other two and unfortunately, they were private and had closed messages from the public. So, I prayed and was telling God, I have tried contacting them and was not sure what to do next and in an instant, He reminded me that the interview was via Teams, so I opened it and found the third person’s name and miraculously, although he was private I could message him. I sent him a message, merely introducing myself as one of the people he interviewed and would like to learn more about the field. I did not get a response and forgot about it during the day, later that evening I got a call and was offered the opportunity to speak with one of the managers in another branch of the same company after which I was OFFERED THE ROLE!!!. The person I spoke to, who by the way was not meant to interview me, spoke to another branch and asked if they had available space for me. I was almost as confused as when I got the rejection letter. I was lost for words and needless to say extremely grateful. He fulfilled His word in my life and the time I spent looking to Him was not in vain, He just wanted to bring it to me in a special way.

I know I have written a ridiculously long post, the longest I have ever written, but I just felt it could bless someone, just like my friends blessed me with their testimonies. One thing this thought me was one, Consistent Prayer builds confidence; speaking to God every day about the same matter built my confidence because I knew He was listening. I also learned that expectation is very important. As much as you can avoid it, don’t pray with a substitute in mind, pray with assurance. Pray with an understanding that what you asking for is going to be given to you. But clearly for you to have confidence in Him, you, first of all, have to believe in Him and that He died for us, you also have to surrender your life to Him. I wouldn’t tell you to do this if it was not the best decision of my life. He is real and His word is true.