The Only Opinion That Matters

 

Kimberly Poteet – Prayer Center Coach, author

After more than 100 years in business, the daily newspaper, where I worked, was set to close at the end of the week.

Some quietly cried as they listened to the words of our management that morning. Others were silent, perhaps in shock.

For me, I stood in the newsroom, hearing their muffled voices, yet more shocked by another message that seemed to drown out everything around me: “Now you can do what I’ve called you to do.”

Truly, that thought—so clearly not my own—was the beginning of a quest to find what God had “called me to do.”

I remember avoiding phone calls of well-meaning friends who had a job lead for me—and even turning down job offers that might have been a good fit.

Then God gave me peace about a couple of opportunities, so I walked through those doors. Yet I kept feeling like God was preparing me for something more.

Much to my surprise, in two years, God transitioned me from career-woman to stay-at-home mom, and eventually even a homeschooler.

Those first weeks and months at home were beautiful with my baby boy, but also lonelier, since I had been used to a fast-paced environment.

This was before the explosion of social media—which allows us to be connected 24/7—so I found myself parked in a recliner with a nursing newborn in my lap and a book in my hand. I read the Bible, cookbooks, anything within reach. And when someone called, I practically begged them to not hang up the phone.

I knew this new role was exactly where God wanted me, but that still didn’t make the transition easier. What seemed especially hard was how some people even treated me differently.

I remember tearfully sharing with my husband about how people used to introduce me as a “very important person.”

He smiled and reassured me that while he thought I had been a good reporter, that was a job that others could do as well. But nobody could replace me in the life of our little boy, he said. I was the most important person in his life.

My husband’s words blessed me. But beyond his words, I entered a season of discovering my true value, which was not based upon what I did for a living or what other people thought about me.

In Mark 11, we read about the Triumphant entry of Jesus as He neared Jerusalem. I wonder how Jesus must have felt when he found himself surrounded by people who were celebrating Him one moment and wanting to kill Him the next.

Many in the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others spread leafy branches they had cut in the fields. Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting,

“Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the LORD! Blessings on the coming Kingdom of our ancestor David! Praise God in highest heaven!” vv. 8-10 (NLT)

Yet in Luke 23:21,

They kept shouting, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”

If a person was not secure in their relationship with God, such hot and cold responses might make them lose heart and give up! They might even question if they really heard from God.

But Jesus did not let public opinion plot His course—and neither should we. We need to look to the Author and Finisher of our faith to know who we are, and what He has called us to do. And when we hear from Him, do not give up!