When I was in high school, my sights were set on earning a scholarship to law school. I had the grades for it. In my class, the competition was always for second place, because first place was mine. As the national exams approached, some of my teachers thought I would rank among the best students in the country.
There was no question that I would get my scholarship.
When I did the final exams, I was sure I’d aced them because I’d worked hard and I knew the material inside out.
But when the exam results came back, the world as I knew it ended. I’d underperformed and missed the cut-off point for a law scholarship. I was nowhere near the best in my class, never mind nationally. My mediocre grades meant the university gave me a scholarship to study Mass Communication (journalism).
I was going to learn how to write.
I was humiliated. My family couldn’t afford to pay privately for me to attend law school, so I took the scholarship.
In the bitter moment of disappointment, when something doesn’t go our way and a cherished dream goes up in smoke, it’s hard to fathom that God doesn’t only know best, but he acts out of love. I don’t need to say how grateful I am that God slammed that particular door and steered me down a different pathway. He knew the plans he had for me, and the gifts he wanted to use.
There have since been many other slammed doors.
I can think of more than one crossroads in my life when I had a need and a desire, but God didn’t answer the way I hoped.
Jobs I wanted, romantic relationships I yearned for, other opportunities that didn’t pan out. But I’d like to think that, these days, when the Lord shuts a door in my face, after I rub my aching nose and dust myself off, I’m able to give thanks and trust his heart for me.
My newest book, which releases today, is about a woman who’s still struggling to learn this lesson. In Into the Flood, Sonia is a forty-something professional at the brink of a career crisis. She faces her life’s biggest challenge when, as she sees it, none of her previous big prayers have been answered. Her life and her plans are derailed, and she has to return to the small town she thought she’d left behind.
Can you think of a time when God said “no” to something you wanted, but you realised he had something much better in store? Let me know in the comments by Friday. Two randomly chosen commenters will win an electronic copy of Into the Flood.
About Into the Flood
She took this small-town job as a temporary last resort. Falling for her reserved boss was not part of the plan.
One mistake imploded Sonia Krogstad’s PR career, leaving her with a stack of debt and no job prospects. Out of options, she returns to her tiny hometown in the northern wilds of Norway, planning only to stay long enough to get back on her feet and prepare for her big-city comeback.
Reclusive tech genius Axel Vikhammer bought a non-profit community arts center that’s fast becoming a money pit. Closing it down is not an option, especially since it’s a refuge for the teenage daughter he only recently learned he has. With her PR background, Sonia seems the perfect hire for the job as his center’s fundraising manager.
Yet as feelings develop between the two, Axel wonders how he can trust Sonia with his business—or his heart—when her dreams don’t include his small town or him.
With her head and her heart pulling her in different directions, Sonia needs to take a leap of faith. But every time she’s done that in the past, she’s fallen flat on her face. Why should it be different now?
Into the Flood is Book 1 in Milla Holt’s Seasons of Faith Christian romance series. Five friends were in the same wedding in a small Norwegian town over twenty years ago. Four bridesmaids, one bride. Now, two decades on, each woman learns that God’s timing is perfect as they find forever love later in life.
I write fiction that reflects my Christian faith. I love happy endings, heroes and heroines who discover sometimes hard but always vital truths, and stories that uplift and encourage. My family and I live in the east of England where we enjoy rambling in the countryside, reading good books and making up silly lyrics to our favorite songs.
I have had many doors slammed in my face but always God has had a better plan for me.
That’s been my experience, too. Thanks for your comment!
Hi Milla! While in my 7 decades I have had some doors GENTLY CLOSED in my face, as a young adult I was more concerned with what doors God wanted me to pass through. As a German / American, being the first college graduate in my family, I felt a calling to do Christian service, BUT didn’t want to go on the mission field in Africa. God and I had some mighty discussions. When I met my husband in college, he was studying pre-med. He was a new believer and felt a calling to be a pastor. Having grown up in a church and being the youngest charter member of my church (age 10), I watched the struggles of our pastor’s wives and wasn’t sure that I wanted that lonely life of living in a glass house. God won. I was a pastor’s wife for 30 years when hubby retired from the ministry. God knows our ins and outs. Best wishes. Your Norway series sounds intriguing.
Oh yes indeed and when I was younger I certainly didn’t acquiesce quietly a few times. Funny how over time we learn that not everything focuses on us and this important lesson :)
I love watching God make what is best in our lives
Yes! For sure. And I’m so grateful looking back for many of those protective doors.
I loved watching Sonia learn to navigate disappointed dreams and make hard choices. Well done!
Wow, what a wonderful testimony! And, for sure, God does know our ins and outs.
Ha ha, so true! I can’t pretend to have always submitted graciously, either. Thanks for your comment.
Amen to that, Lori!
Thanks, friend! For sure, some of those slammed doors were safety doors.
I’ve had many doors slammed in my face, and God has always brought me through!! He’s now given me the dream job that I always wanted, never thought to ask for, but longed for! He’s brought me clients for it, and He’s blessed my other business, too, that I started when I had to be home as Mom’s full-time caregiver. I thank Him for both every day!!!
What a great testimony, Trudy! Thank you for sharing.
God had blessed me with the opportunity to stay home with my children and homeschool them through high school!
Happy book birthday!! Yes, there have been times the Lord closed the door on what I wanted. When I became hurt the second time by taking the other quad off my knee cap
(Yes, I have had both quads ripped right off and float up my leg.) I wanted so much to go back to work. I spent fifteen months in a straight leg brace. I was relieved of my position between six to eight weeks after the accident. I had used some of the FLMA time for my husband and Mom during the year. The Lord knew that it was a toxic work environment. He wanted me to be away from that situation. After I was dismissed, there was a lot of upheavel in the company as well as the department I had worked. The Lord knew what was best for me.
He also knew that I was needed at home to spend quality time with my Mom who has been in a nursing home for almost two years. She is now under Hospice care.
Thank you for sharing. God bless you.
can’t think of any now
I tried to have my daughter right after my surgery & high school which came true. I just didn’t go back to university for becoming a journalist. But my life is perfect!!!
Fantastic! Me, too, and I appreciate that blessing so much.
Wow, Debra that was quite a dramatic derailment! I thank God for how he used that time to bless you and give you time with your mother. Thanks so much for sharing.
Thanks for commenting, anyway, bn!
So glad to hear it, Amy! God’s ways are always best.
It happens in small ways all the time.
It does, indeed, Jcp! Thanks for your comment.