I'm ready, God, Use me

The boss seemed to want me out—and soon.

By Charles W. Lindahl

During his first year with the organization, the new man in charge had been removing all his first-line administrators, and it looked like I would be the next to go.

Since I had been with the organization about 28 years, it was in my best interest to remain. But I was no longer involved in making key decisions and was rarely given important assignments. A colleague in the same situation asked me to join him in preparing a memo and meeting with the boss to explain how we could be more useful to the organization. I told him I needed to pray before taking such steps and urged him to do the same.

I wanted to be receptive to God's direction, and tried to subdue my own will. Two passages from the Bible were especially helpful. The first involves the time when Mary first learned she was to be the mother of Jesus, and asked how that could be. Mary said, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word" (Luke 1:38). Also, when Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane, he yielded to God's will, saying, "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42).

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