Now that S is home from Iraq (see previous entry if you have not done so already), it is time to find out where we are going next. The chaplain board has met and will soon be handing out the new assignments for chaplains who are ready to move to their next duty station. That includes us. S was asked to fill out a preference sheet, listing 3 stateside choices, 3 overseas assignments, and 3 types of chaplain assignments that he is interested in pursuing. The board considered these preferences and made decisions accordingly. I have heard that a person should NOT list any place on this dream sheet that he actually wants to go because he’ll never get it.
I don’t know about that…but I do know that figuring out what to write on that sheet is difficult. Of course, we want to be exactly where God wants us to be, but does the Army know exactly where God wants us to be? How in the world do we choose from all the options…and how do we pray for an answer? It’s very frustrating because not only is the decision out of our hands, it is in the hands of people that I don’t even know.
Several nights ago, we were talking this over with another chaplain family, and I, of course, posed all kinds of questions. What if the Army sends us to Alaska, but God wants us to be in Germany? Then I would want to be in Germany. What if the Army sends us to Germany, but we are really supposed to be in Alaska? How am I supposed to know if we are really doing what God wants us to be doing if it’s all in the hands of some Army chaplains that don’t know me or my family? I don’t want to go so far out as to say, “Well…we ended up in Antarctica…that must have been God’s will” because man messes up. Outcome A does not automatically mean that God’s will was Outcome A…if so, Eve never would have taken the fruit, and Jonah would not have been in the belly of a great fish.
My wise husband said, “It doesn’t matter where we end up. We are called to minister to those around us [specifically soldiers and their families]. We can do God’s will wherever the Army sends us.” True…so true…
Then the very next morning, as I was working on my Esther Bible study (by Elizabeth George, not the Beth Moore study), I came across this wonderful summation:
Do you ever wonder about God’s providence? The fact that God is always directing all things toward His end? As my pastor, John MacArthur, puts it, ‘Providence means that the hand of God is in the glove of human events.’…we’ve witnessed [in the beginning chapters of Esther] the efforts of humans to impress, to direct, to rule, and to control. And yet, in and through these incidents, God has been using people, events, and circumstances to bring about His perfect will. (p 47)
She goes on to say, “True beauty and strength believes in the complete oversight of God, even over the minutia of life. We find His beauty as we rest in His providence, and His strength as we count on His providence.” (p 48)
So I guess it doesn’t really matter where the Army sends us because God will go with us, and we will go with Him, doing the work that He has called each of us to do. In a way, going with the Army IS going with God. He will work out every event, every circumstance, every opportunity, and every PCS and duty station for His purposes if we allow Him to do so…even if the Army gets it completely wrong.
We’ll let you know something as soon as we do….
George, Elizabeth. Becoming a Woman of Beauty and Strength. Eugene: Harvest House Publishers, 2001.
Choosing Life 
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