Immediately after graduating from college with my teaching degree, my husband and I moved to Arizona so he could start grad school.
I had my degree, and was totally ready to finally teach professionally full-time and make a full-time salary!
But transferring my teaching license to a new state, waiting for background check results, and applying for jobs in the middle of a school year were leading me to getting a total of ZERO job offers those first few months.
I immediately started applying for substitute teaching jobs while I waited, and roadblock after roadblock kept popping up with delayed trainings and orientations and fingerprint cards.
My plan of supporting my husband and myself financially while he was in school was starting to fail, and our savings account slowly dipped lower and lower.
This was one time in my life where I really felt the concept that faith = action.
I knew that God would provide for us and that things would work out, but it was also really difficult sitting there without any income for a while, with many factors outside of my control.
I kept moving forward on every path I could find, and each time I would hit a roadblock, I’d think of another path and go that way.
And overall, there was this pervasive peace, this faith that I knew everything would work out okay.
When Abraham led his beloved son Isaac up to the mountain with all the supplies to make a burnt offering, except the lamb itself, Isaac started to wonder.
Where is the sacrifice? What were they going to do?
His father Abraham so wisely testified: “My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering”. (Genesis 22:8)
Abraham had pure faith that God would provide that offering, no matter what that looked like.
But I love that Abraham was also teaching Isaac of what was going to come in the future:
God would eventually provide a sacrificial lamb for all of mankind.
God has always provided for us.
When we really believe that God will provide, what can that give us the faith to do?
“The Savior is never closer to you than when you are facing or climbing a mountain with faith.” – Russell M. Nelson
Happy Studying!
-Cali Black
