Receiving Answers to Prayer

“Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don't come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come.”
― Jeffrey R. Holland

If we were to substitute ‘answers to prayer’ with the word ‘blessings’, then the quote above is the perfect description of the way my prayers have been answered in recent weeks.  

In early November I received a call from LDS Church Offices about a position available with LDS Family Services. I spent 20 minutes on the phone explaining why I wasn’t the appropriate candidate for the position and suggesting ways that they might find a suitable candidate, or ways the role might be crafted to be better-managed in future. I thought that was to be the end of it.

A few weeks later I received another call, this time from NZ LDS Family Services. An hour-long conversation ended with me feeling frustrated that they still wanted me to apply for the role as Director of LDS Family Services Sydney in spite of my obvious lack of suitable credentials. I reluctantly agreed to an interview.

One week after the phone call I had an informal conversation with the same NZ gentleman. I spent an hour and a half convincing him that I was not a suitable candidate for the role. He spent the same time arguing that I ought to apply for the role. I agreed to apply, wondering if that was what the Lord had in store for me. I also began praying for direction. Heaven was silent.

As my prayers increased in their intensity I was invited to Church Offices for a formal interview with a 5-member panel including Australia’s Church Offices General Manger, the HR Manager, the LDS Family Services Global Director (based in Utah), and a NZ bloke I don’t recall. So it was pretty big stuff for a guy who was uninterested and unqualified.

Over the course of a little more than a month I had gone from not wanting the job and not being willing to apply to wondering if it was the Lord’s will that I apply and accept a position that Family Services had pled with me to apply for. I was convinced the job was mine and I needed Heaven’s help in making a determination as to whether I should accept it. The offer was for a reasonable sum of money – certainly more than I’ve ever previously earned. The job would provide me with training and experience that I can’t get elsewhere. And the security of a real job with income, holidays, sick leave, and so on was appealing.

I found that I was able to talk myself into wanting the job if I focused on the positives. But there were many negatives. We would have to relocate to Sydney. We would need to give up on my business dreams. The role would not allow me to grow in the directions I’ve felt previously called to go, but would take my in a seemingly tangential direction.

The challenge of not knowing how to build my own business combined with the security of a job had me begging for answers from Heavenly Father in my prayers. No answers came.

I went through the interview and did the best I could. I didn’t do well. Someone as inappropriately qualified as me couldn’t have done well in the interview. Yet I was still convinced the role would be offered to me and I didn’t know what to do. “Father, should I take the job?” Nothing.

Some days after I was to have been told whether I was successful or not, I was praying when I received inspiration. “Justin, you’ll know when you need to know.” It wasn’t a voice, but it was a thought. Clear and concise. I felt immediately reassured.

A few hours later the phone rang. The HR manager apologetically confirmed that I was an unsuccessful applicant. Kylie was with me and heard the conversation. I was overjoyed. I felt pure delight and gratitude. Until that moment I hadn’t known what I should do. Then the real revelation came.

I hadn’t received an answer previously because I had no decision to make. I still had no decision to make – I didn’t get the job – but my prayer was answered. I knew, immediately, when I was rejected for the role that it was God’s will. I felt it in the depths of my soul. It was unquestionable and unmistakable. God didn’t want me to work for the Church in that role. He does want me to continue along the path I’ve been following the past decade.

I wanted to write about this answer to prayer because it can be too easy to forget the spiritual assurances that come from Heaven, and this one was so clear that I always want to remember it.

So, where to from here? Well, I left my role at the University of Wollongong in July 2012 and worked part time until December. Now I’m on my own, working to develop a business that will utilise my strengths and passions, and take my family and I forward in a way that blesses others and helps families. I have a lot of enthusiasm, something of a plan, enormous support from a lot of people, and some pretty handy qualifications. Oh, and most of all, I have a Heavenly endorsement to continue on this pathway – and that’s all that matters.