Recently I had to attend an interview and due to the distance between myself and the set of interviewers, the interview had to be via Skype. I had prepared, and for the few days leading up to the day of the interview I was pretty excited and looking forward to it. The morning of the interview saw me praying that everything goes smoothly and that the interview is very successful. I also understood that nothing spoils the flow of conversation better than a jerky, start-and-stop process caused by poor internet connection so I asked God to take control of the connection.
That morning, I felt wonderful. I had good friends call to wish me success. It was an important interview. Then the rain started. It was a so heavy, another friend sent a concerned text hoping the rain would not ruin the already unreliable internet connection. I was not troubled. I had talked to God and everything would be great.
The time for the interview drew closer, and when it was a few minutes to the agreed time, I set up my Skype, did some last minute preparation, dressed up, announced to my entire family that I was not to be disturbed, and waited for the video call.
Finally the interview started and was going very well. I was having a good feeling about it, until my mother barged into my room and announced the arrival of a guest. The interviewers heard it all, and my heart sank! I tried giving my mother a sign to leave without speaking to her and keeping my eyes off the baffled interviewers, but she did not understand my sign and kept talking. Her voice isn't soft and low, it's loud! Finally I had to look at her and I think the look on my face said it all. Suddenly remembering that I was not to be disturbed, she quickly withdrew and closed the door. The interview was already coming to an end when that happened, so after that awkward moment, we exchanged goodbyes and it ended.
I burst out crying! I was very unhappy with the way the interview ended. I was distraught. I confronted my mother. I had announced that I was not to be disturbed! I had announced!! The interview was going so well until she came! How could she? Why did she? I cried and cried. Mum apologised over and over saying she was so excited at the arrival of the guest that she completely forgot that I would be in an interview. I lay on my bed and cried, "Lord! I'm so unhappy. I'm distraught! How could this have happened? I prayed! You were supposed to have everything under control! I don't feel good about the way the interview ended! Help!"
After I had calmed down the Lord began to speak to me. I learnt some powerful lessons that day. God started by showing me everything that went right with the interview, shifting my attention from what supposedly went wrong. He showed me how despite the heavy rain, the network was at its best, how the entire interview went smoothly and remained uninterrupted by bad network. He reminded me of how at the introduction, one of the interviewers mentioned that they may have to cut into my responses to save time, yet even when I elaborated on some of my responses, they never cut in. I guess they were quite interested in what I had to say. He also reminded me of how the interviewers kept smiling and nodding to one another after each of my answers to their questions. He showed me all of that, and finally reminded me of the scripture I had read that morning "the just shall live by faith " (Romans 1:17 b).
You see, God reminded me of plenty that day. The interview indeed went well, but I magnified one small hiccup to the extent that it was all I saw about the interview. God had to remind me of the other parts. The other GOOD parts. Do you do this as well? Are you guilty of robbing God of thanks when something does not go your way? Do you magnify the bad and diminish the good? We are told in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 that "whatever happens, always be thankful. This is how God wants you to live in Christ Jesus" (ERV). This means that in the good and bad times, we must find reasons to thank God. Also, Philippians 4:8 teaches us what to dwell on when we think. Inasmuch as God enjoys our thanksgiving, these exercises are more for our benefit. When we find reasons to thank God even when things aren't going smoothly, we do not dwell on the wrong things, thus we curb negative emotions like anger, bitterness, jealousy and so on. When we make thanksgiving an attitude, we can experience peace in any circumstance, which leads to contentment and absolute trust in God. We are not shaken, because we have faith that ALL things work together for our good (Romans 8:28). We have faith! This is why God reminded me of what I had read that very morning, "The just shall live by faith."
God taught me another lesson following that seemingly disastrous interview. I had prayed for Him to take charge of the interview and make it go smoothly from start to finish. I know He heard me, therefore whatever happened was under His control. He knew it would happen before it happened and He allowed it to happen. Why then did he not answer my prayer to prevent any snags? God in His infinite love and wisdom allowed what happened to happen to teach me something. And boy am I glad for that lesson. That lesson will form the basis for my next post, so please do return to read it. In the mean time, always thank God, in good and in bad. Dwell more on the positives than the negatives. Now don't misunderstand me. I know bad things happen and I'm not suggesting that they are not acknowledged, but what you dwell on is what you spend a substantial amount of time brooding on and they should not be the negatives, they should be the positives. You will be better for it.
After God spoke to me, I corrected myself and began to thank Him for the success of the interview. I began to exercise my faith, remembering His promises and relying on them. The next day, I received an email from one of the interviewers saying she enjoyed the chance to talk with me! She said it was a pleasant chat and mentioned some other things that made me realize that I had done very well. When things seem horrible, many times it's us just magnifying something small to huge proportions that it blocks our view of all else that is good. I had nothing to worry about all along.
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