I was busy with other things in the house when the phone rang. As I walked across the room, I realized with utter clarity that I knew who was calling and what he was going to say. I’m not prone to this kind of insight and have only experienced it one other time in my life. Both occasions proved to be life-changing.
As I’d expected, the chairman of the governing body of my school was on the phone, and as he began to speak, I knew exactly what he would say. I was aware that, for over a year, the governors had been searching for a new school principal and were continuing to pray for this important post to be filled. The school had been founded on Christian Science values, so turning to God for guidance in determining the right individual was natural. Even though at that time I held a leadership role at the school, it had never occurred to me to apply for such a promotion, nor did I have any interest in moving from the position I had. So when the chairman asked me if I would consider taking on the position of principal, my heart sank and the thought of such an undertaking filled me with dread. That feeling didn’t subside in the following days as I prayed deeply to understand whether this was God’s will.
In Matthew 4, there is an extraordinary description of Jesus walking on the shore of the Galilean sea and seeing Simon Peter and Andrew fishing. At his words, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men,” they immediately left everything they knew—all that was familiar, presumably the only talents and skills they had developed—and followed Jesus. They set off into new territory with Christ Jesus leading them. Similarly, the same spiritual intuition that had been with me from that first phone call continued to guide me, gently but firmly. I knew I needed to go forward even though I felt resistant to the change.
