As I continue to press on each day, waiting on the next stage of my life to begin, a thought came to me, maybe you will have to go backwards to go forward. Every day I complement where I am, where I have been and what I need to do to get back on track. Until I was 23, I didn’t have a clue to my place in life in accordance with God’s will. After living in 6 states in 6 months, working part-time in 3 different states, the Lord brought me to His promised land, Columbus, Indiana.
From May of 1993 to October 2000, I felt a sense of purpose in my life. Although I wasn’t working at my dream job, I was content to work full time and go to seminary part time, taking one class per semester. However, in an instant, my life was changed forever. I was diagnosed with iritis, arthritis of the eye. My pain was so severe I went to the emergency room, feeling as if I had a nail in my eye. After searching for months to find the right eye doctor, I was able to treat my eye, but had to drop out of graduate school.
From October 2000 – January 2002, I was lost, confused about the direction my life was heading in. In my anguish and desperation, the Lord was faithful, opening the door for me to be a Bible Teacher and Golf Coach. Once again, God brought me to a promised land in Bear, Delaware. As I look back on my life before I go forward, I am reminded of something I learned from Tentmaker’s Youth Ministry School in Hopkins, Minnesota. If you can do someone once, you can do it again. If you can do it again, you can make it a habit. Applying this to God, if the Lord can lead me out of darkness twice, then He will do it again, bringing my life to completion, Philippians 1:6.
by Jay Mankus
ExpressYourself4Him 