MAY 2016 - Turns out He was talking to us all the time.
A year ago, we were praying for a God-sized miracle to get Ethan to Belmont University. From February through August, we repeatedly petitioned heaven for provision or direction. The door never opened completely last summer, but it also never closed. Independently, my wife and I arrived at the same prayerful decision. God closed the financial gap, and we would help him get there for one semester. The rest would be up to Ethan and God.
We were blessed. Ethan made some incredible friends. His roommate, Maxx, was a good and perfect gift sent from the Father of Lights. When the door to a second semester firmly closed this past January, we all were devastated—even Maxx. I had a crisis of belief. I spent some time reevaluating what I believed about prayer, God’s activity in our everyday lives and my own faith. I questioned my intentions and tried to figure out where I had messed up. Was there a formula to pray to get God to move on our behalf? Did my doubt cause God not to answer? Had I attempted to force His hand, and had God responded by turning His back?
I should have known better.
Where I had doubt, Ethan had clarity. He loved Belmont and Nashville, and if he could not attend Belmont, then he would pursue Nashville. We looked at Nashville State University, but it would cost as much for him to go there as Belmont thanks to out-of-state tuition.
“What about Middle Tennessee?” he asked.
With that one question, God opened a series of doors and my eyes.
Middle Tennessee State University, Tennessee's largest public college, is located in Murfreesboro, about 30 minutes from Nashville. They offer Ethan's major, songwriting, as a part of the Academic Common Market. Because songwriting is not offered as a major at any colleges in Georgia, E qualifies for in-state tuition. That alone saves him $20,000 a year. He registered for classes last week. All that’s left is for our boy to find an apartment and some roommates.
That business about hindsight providing perfect vision is true, and God has used these recent events to let me see clearly. We had prayed for provision or direction. He gave us both. I remember now that when we asked for guidance, we acknowledged Belmont could be God’s will for one semester, one year or four years. We said at the beginning that Belmont may be the launching pad for a career that would take Ethan completely out of college, or it may be the place where he would meet the woman God has in store for him. I had forgotten that, but God has reminded me. The one thing we knew for sure was that we could not compromise our financial convictions, and the Creator of the Universe has provided a way to ensure we would not.
I have no regrets and no doubt about that first semester. Ethan was intended to be at Belmont last fall. He gained confidence in his abilities. His acceptance into the school’s competitive music and songwriting programs validated his talent and his goals. Had he not been at Belmont, we would never have known to even look Middle Tennessee.
I had begun to think that God was toying with us, that He didn’t care where Ethan went to school, how much it cost or what he majored in. Nothing is farther from the truth. God does care, and He wasn’t playing chess with our lives. He was teaching us to trust Him.
One of my favorite Bible passages is where Jesus asks, "What father, when his son asks for bread, gives him a stone?" God is a good, good father. He doesn't do that. He didn’t give us rocks. He gave us bread, really good bread, in His perfect timing.
I have no idea whether MTSU will be Ethan’s home for the next six semesters or whether it, too, is a stepping stone. That’s OK. While I’d prefer certainty and assurance, God has shown me that the only certainty I need is my trust in Him, and the only assurance I need is that He’s got me firmly in His grasp.
That's not a bad place to be at all.
Comments