Diane Williams - Angels in Action - Stories to Inspire

I was never happy in Texas, never at ease. And the whole time I was there, I kept hearing that inner voice that continued to say, “ It’s time to move to California. ”

It took me a long time to finally submit to that voice. Too long. After four months, I was discouraged, dispirited, and several thousand dollars poorer. I decided to make the move.

Once the decision was made, I moved quickly. The days flew by in a flurry of packing, shipping, and making arrangements. At the end of two weeks, my daughters and my mother piled in the car with me and I drove us all to California. Two days later, my mother took my girls back to New York. She realized that, as a newly separated mother, I needed some time to get back on my feet, and promised to keep the girls for one school year while I settled in California and prepared a home for my family.

Luckily, I discovered that a friend of mine from New York now lived in Los Angeles. I contacted her and convinced her that she needed a roommate—namely, me. I found a job almost immediately. At last I began to think that God had been right all along. I had a pretty nice place to live and an income. Things could only go up from here, right?

Wrong.

My boss seemed to be a very nice man. Knowing I was a recent arrival from the East Coast, he asked me if he could be my “tour guide” of the wonders of Los Angeles. Grateful for the offer, I accepted. We had a great time seeing the sights, and I thought I had found a good friend. Unfortunately, he thought he had found something else. On the heels of our platonic sightseeing tour, he asked me on a date. I know that it’s never a good idea to date someone you work with—and it is definitely a bad idea to date your boss—so I politely declined. He asked again, and I refused that second request too.

The following week, he called me into the office and ordered me to clean out my desk. Just like that, I was out of a job. I tried to reason with him, but he clearly just wanted me out of his sight. If I wasn’t interested in him as a romantic partner, then he wasn’t interested in working with me.

And then it got worse.

When my roommate found out that I was unemployed, she ordered me out. (Some friend, huh?)

I had no job, no home, and no prospects.

What I did have was growing anxiety. It was April and I had only two more months to find an apartment before it was time to go to New York to get my daughters. I felt helpless and hopeless. And I was also outraged—angry with God. After all, I had moved out here on God’s word and this is the way He treated me? The nerve!

But then I calmed down. I knew in my heart that I hadn’t really been listening to Him. How could I when I no longer trusted Him? My own counsel had gotten me nowhere, and it was time for change.

Which is how I ended up wandering around the library. I really had nowhere else to go. I didn’t quite know why I was there, but I continued to stroll around, not really reading the titles on the books, just thinking and praying. Then one book caught my eye. The cover was so faded that I couldn’t read the title, but there was something about the binding that was attractive to me. I pulled the book from the shelf and smiled. It was the Holy Bible.

I sat down in a comfortable chair and began flipping through the pages—from chapter to chapter, from book to book. But I saw nothing that could be of any help to me. I barely understood anything I was reading, and I certainly didn’t find anything that could have any personal application to my life and my problems. In frustration, I shut the book and closed my eyes.

After a moment, I opened the Bible at random and saw these words among the evocative poetry of the Psalms: “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

There it was. It was exactly what I needed. I didn’t know why, but a peace flooded over me. My heart and mind were no longer confused. I trusted Him and placed my life’s challenges in His hands.

I was angry with myself for being in this crisis in the first place. It could have been avoided, if only I had listened to God months ago when he woke me in the morning to tell me to move to California. Instead, I had trusted a stranger over the phone. The subsequent move to Texas had nearly wiped out my bank account and, worse, it had thoroughly demoralized me. I vowed to myself that would never happen again. Now and forever, I would trust God unequivocally.

In need of some spiritual support, I met up with my friend, Edie, and told her all about my week. I had lost my job, my apartment, and my car (in a wreck with the cable truck). Everything that could have gone wrong had gone wrong. I couldn’t sleep, and every single part of me wanted to pack my bags and go back to New York.

Edie did her best to comfort me. She reminded me that maybe all this would turn out to be a blessing in disguise. I certainly liked the sound of that, but I found it a little hard to believe. Still, Edie was just what I needed at the moment, with her encouragement and her loving personality. I asked her to come with me to look at an apartment I had seen advertised in the paper, a cute condo in La Verne. Edie was doubtful and tried to talk me out of it. She said it would be nearly impossible for me to afford to live in such a nice and expensive area.

But something told me that this was the right path. My heart echoed with the verse, “Be still and know that I am God.” I had thought about that verse a lot since stumbling across it that day in the library, and my meditations had gradually made me aware of the emotional as well as the spiritual impact of trusting God. I tried to explain all this to Edie, but she only shook her head.

“You do know there is a difference between faith and foolishness,” she said. “And God doesn’t deal with the latter.”

Regardless, she prayed for me until we arrived at the complex, where a large man introduced himself as Matthew the landlord. He led us around the complex, describing the outside amenities, and then showed us the unit. Matthew unlocked the door, and as soon as I stepped in, I knew this was my new home. I loved it instantly. It had a personality of its own, cozy and quaint with its picture windows, sunken living room, and built-in shelves. The kitchen was even equipped with modern appliances.

Delighted at my response, the landlord suggested that we go into the living room to take care of the paperwork. Edie and I sat on the couch and Matthew gave me some papers to read. I skimmed through the words, barely reading them, until I saw something that made me stop cold in my tracks: the total move-in amount was a whopping $3000. I didn’t have $3000. My mind raced with negotiating strategies, but I couldn’t think of a thing. I simply didn’t have enough money to move in. I was so close to this perfect apartment, and it was going to be denied to me.

Matthew asked if I had any questions. I opened my mouth to respond, but the words were stalled by the wall of terror building in my throat. My inner voice reminded me, “ Be still and know that I am God. ” So, I closed my mouth and remained silent.

Then the landlord asked, “Is there a problem with the move-in amount?”

I wanted to answer, but I could only think, God, I need your help. “Be still and know that I am God” persisted in my spirit.

The big landlord began twitching in his chair. He scratched his head and looked at me with a half-baked smile. He said, “Okay, okay. If you don’t have the entire $3000, don’t worry. Can you give me half?”

I didn’t answer. Again, I heard in my mind, “ Be still and know that I am God. ” The words nudged my spirit, and this time I trusted God completely. There was absolutely nothing I needed to do or say.

The landlord squirmed in his chair and continued reducing his offer. By the time he got to $500, it was quite evident that he was frustrated, even insulted by my silence. His big smile had long since disappeared, and now in its place was an angry frown. He stared at me, perplexed, and his large face turned as red as a fire engine.