From Restlessness to Rest

In 1982, I had just graduated from college with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. I was working for a wonderful company named Alphagraphics. It was a good job, affording me growth opportunities within the company, but my soul was restless.

Though the work was smooth, the company was growing, and I had the favor of my superiors, I knew it was not what I was created to do.

I had given my life to Jesus as Lord and Savior some years before, and I was growing more committed to living out my faith. I continually prayed, “Lord, what will it mean for me to be fully committed to You?” Still, I remained restless within. I had known for some time I was being called in a different direction. However, I seemed powerless to move ahead.

My job required some travel and extended stays in motels. One night after work, exhausted, I laid on the motel bed. Nothing on television seemed worth my time. I looked over to the end table by the bed, and saw a Bible. At that point, the lifelong development of my faith seemed to gain great traction. I opened the Bible and began to read in Philippians 4, “..for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound…I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

My restlessness was a result of not allowing myself to be completely immersed in Christ.

As I read, it felt as if my dry and thirsty soul was being watered. I realized my circumstances were not causing my restlessness. My restlessness was a result of not allowing myself to be completely immersed in Christ. I resolved to heed Paul’s advice on the secret of spiritual contentment - to put all things under the Lordship of Jesus. When I do that, it doesn’t matter what the circumstances are, His power is in me to guide me through them.

This experience changed the trajectory of my life. I am eternally grateful a Gideon-placed Bible was on the nightstand in that Motel 6 in Austin, Texas, in 1982. Within a few weeks of reading and re-reading Philippians 4, I dropped to my knees and said to God, “Ok, I will submit to Your will. I will be a pastor.”

Thirty-five years later, most people who know me hear repeatedly my life verse is Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” They know the point of the verse is not “me doing all things,” but the strength of Christ in me when I put him first in all things.

Thank you, Gideons, for your ministry of placing Bibles. I am a life that was changed.