kddranch@molalla.net

How many times have you wanted something very badly, only to realize later that having it could have been a major mistake or disaster?

In 2001, I was one of the permanent lay-off causalities. I had a twenty-five year career as a marketing professional, so thought, It won’t be hard to get another job. Wrong! There were virtually no jobs in my state, and the jobs that were open were going to the younger crowd that didn’t command a high salary.

Meanwhile, I used my downtime to rekindle my relationship with God. You could say that I had wandered off the God-path. I began to lean on Him ever so, and asked Him for guidance and wisdom for specific positions. I’d get to be one of the top three candidates that were considered, but never the one hired.

Then I came across what I thought was going to be the ‘perfect’ job, a job I was convinced that God had picked just for me. I interviewed several times with this company, and they were even considering creating a position for me. I spent an entire week creating the perfect marketing plan for this company, and presented it to them. And they weren’t even interviewing anyone else. I’m going to get this job! I was sure of it.

Then I got that heart-stabbing, mind-blowing email that told me they appreciated all that I had accomplished, and the plan I had prepared for them, but they weren’t ready to add another position. I was crushed, heart-broken. I wanted to give up and admit defeat. I took my disappointment to God, and He put the perfect story in my path just when I needed it. It was a story about how God takes us places we’ve never gone before, both exhilarating and terrifying. A place where He will assure us that we can do what He’s called us to do. All He asks is that we trust Him, then He’ll take our hand and lead us farther out onto ground we couldn’t possibly navigate without Him.

God used this story to whisper encouragement, and to show me He’ll never give up on me, even when I fall. He’s right there to pick me up. I found the peace to combat the rejection. And two days later, a friend said she read in the newspaper that the FDA was investigating this company. So God possibly saved me from another job disaster.

While more and more out of work Americans sunk into depression and gave up on the job market all together, I persevered with God’s strength. And the closer I became to God, the more I had a yearning to begin a career that would allow me to do His will. 

Then God gave me my first assignment - to do outreach work to women with eating disorders (fifteen years earlier God had miraculously healed me from an eating disorder), which involved creating a website designed to reach out to hundreds of people worldwide with a message of hope and healing.

Then He gave me another assignment, to speak to women’s groups about self-esteem, eating disorders and addictions, and how God’s amazing character and grace can set them free. I began to have a strong yearning to write for Him, to be His spokesperson, and show others through my writing how they can be set free from years of bondage.

At first I thought, I could never work for God … I never went to seminary … I’m not gifted … I’m not a pastor’s kid … I'm not qualified! Then a number of people showed me that God likes to use ordinary people to do His extraordinary work. God delights in doing extraordinary things through men and women who simply say, God, I'm available – use me! 

When the prophet Isaiah gazed on the triune and heard the glorious sounds of heaven, his response was “Woe to me! … I am ruined. For I am a man of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5). This was a distraught man. His reaction was much like our response when we come face to face with God as revealed in Jesus Christ. We ask for cleansing. After Isaiah received the cleansing, he heard the Lord speak those challenging words, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us? Isaiah immediately said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8)

Like Isaiah, arms opened wide, I cried to God, Send me! And He did. Then it hit me. I’ve got the best job ever! I’m working for God, the Creator, the Great I am. WOW! And the best part is He doesn’t require “X” amount of years of experience, a degree, letters of recommendation or references. He showed me that I had precisely what His job required -- availability. He would provide the training. He fulfilled His purpose for me.

One year ago I birthed the outreach program. It has been an incredible year. I look back and am in awe of all the opportunities God has placed before. For example, God placed countless women in my path that were seeking help and hope for their eating disorders. As these women heal and become whole, they will reach out to help others, with the same compassion that God showed each one of them. And God has put a handful of mentors in path - godly men and women that are helping me become a better speaker, writer and person.

These are opportunities I received because I was obedient and heartfully said Send me. Just like Isaiah, we are living in a world full of people who not only have unclean lips, but whose lives are being destroyed by addiction and so many other diseases. God wants us to serve Him by reaching out to others.

Copyright 2005 by Kimberly Davidson

Kimberly Davidson is the founder and director of Olive Branch Outreach (www.olivebranchoutreach.com), an eating disorders ministry, and inspirational speaker. Today Kim reaches out to hundreds of women worldwide to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, and to make Him known by presenting Biblical solutions and teachings as part of the healing process.