When I Knew God’s Will
Two years ago I wrote about God’s will. I want to write about it again, but this time it’s personal.
God has never spoken to me—well, not verbally, out loud, like he did with Moses. But in 1991 I knew—I knew—that he wanted me to leave active duty.
By the spring of 1991 I had been on active duty in the United States Navy for more than eleven years, and I was planning to stay at least twenty, and possibly more. (Twenty years or more of active service would have qualified me for a military pension as soon as I left active duty.)
A lot of things happened that year that convinced me that God wanted me off active duty. I won’t go into all of them (some of which are too personal to share), but many of them stemmed from my unexpected failure to be selected for promotion from Lieutenant Commander (O-4) to Commander (O-5). Suddenly, orders were canceled, my planned career path was derailed, and I faced an uncertain and potentially unpleasant future.
No one thing by itself would have convinced me, but as they piled up I realized that there were too many to just be coincidences. So I submitted my resignation, effective March 31, 1992, and left active duty—without a job, and with a wife and newborn son to support. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. Yet I knew it was God’s will.
Three months later I still didn’t have a job and I wondered if I had misread God. I briefly considered trying to get back on active duty, but that really wasn’t an option. I interviewed for several jobs but wasn’t hired. At one point a Dallas law firm hired me, but for reasons beyond my control I was let go after two days. Almost at my wit’s end, and running low on money, I finally decided to open a private law practice.
Then God began opening doors. I found a small office that I could afford, and my wife found a used copy machine cheap. But I still needed work, and income.
Since I had done mostly criminal law in the Navy, the most ready source of work was getting appointed by courts to represent indigent criminal defendants. The local state courts had few to offer, especially since I was an unknown quantity at that point.
But the federal court had lots. The Federal Public Defender was short-staffed and as a result of a federal hiring freeze they couldn’t hire anyone. Because of this they were refusing to accept many cases, so the court clerk was farming out lots of court appointments to private lawyers and law firms. The court didn’t pay well by law firm standards, so the private lawyers didn’t want those appointments. But I did. For about a year the federal court gave me all the work I could handle. We got by as I slowly built my law practice.
Meanwhile I soon learned why God had wanted me to come back home. Within nine months of leaving active duty my mother passed away from cancer. During that time she got to spend time with her grandson that she never would have had if I were still in the Navy. After more than forty-seven years of marriage, my father took her death hard, and I was there to support him. When he passed away six years later, I was there to look after my maiden aunt who soon developed dementia. I couldn’t have done any of that if I had stayed on active duty.
God’s will is not always easy. Sometimes it’s downright scary. But he is always beside us every step of the way. He was for me, and he will be for you.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.[1]
[1]. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5
2 Comments
TikTok Downloader · August 29, 2024 at 4:24 pm
Your writing has a way of resonating with me on a deep level. I appreciate the honesty and authenticity you bring to every post. Thank you for sharing your journey with us.
DonDavidson · November 20, 2024 at 8:43 pm
Thank you for your kind words. May God bless you and yours.