The Whole Truth of Being Available to God

Forty-one years ago a single, young woman was about to give birth. She hadn’t talked to her former boyfriend in months. She couldn’t reach him, didn’t know how to tell him she was having his child. A baby girl was born, and upon holding her child this young lady knew things would be OK. Perhaps this baby was a gift, not a burden as she supposed.

This woman raised her daughter the best she could, and while she wanted to give her child more than she had . . . history has a way of repeating itself. When the daughter became a young woman, she found herself in the same situation — living at home, pregnant and scared.

Tricia Goyer’s Mother 1971

If you haven’t guessed already, I was the daughter born to a single mom. As a teenager became a single mom myself. At age 17, God gave me a son. My boyfriend was out of the picture, and I faced raising a child alone with little education, no money and, maybe according to the world, little hope for my future.

According to the world, I am nothing more than a statistic. Government research states that most daughters of young mothers will be teen mothers themselves. They face lives of hardship, living on welfare for the most part — becoming a burden rather than an asset to society.

Yet, I am not a statistic. Why? Because God doesn’t do them.

You see, God has a habit of seeing something no one else does—a king in a shepherd boy named David. An apostle in a young zealot named Paul. A mighty warrior in a frightened nobody named Gideon. God’s X-ray eyes see right through any outward characteristics or national statistics. His X-ray eyes scan down to the heart.

And what did God see in me? More than I could imagine.

At age 41, I’m an author of 35 books. While in my 20s, I helped launch a crisis pregnancy center, started numerous abstinence programs and began support groups for teen moms. Now, if I were not a believer, I could really tout these things. But honestly, I can say it doesn’t have to do with me at all. It’s about:

A BIG God with BIG dreams.

A God who is be strong in my weakness.

A God who sees the future, sees the past and has a perfect plan for me. (And for you!)

Well, I guess the whole truth is that I do have something to do with it. There is one thing I must do . . . and that is be available.

My co-author Ken Blanchard talks about this in our new release Lead Your Family Like Jesus:

The reality is that most of us spend little, if any, time in solitude. Yet if we don’t, how can God have a chance to talk with us?

I love to start my day with solitude. When I’m on top of my game, I sit at the side of the bed and recite something I learned from Henry Blackaby:

Good morning, Daddy! What are You up to today?

How can I help? I’m available.

Then I just sit and listen, to see if the good Lord has something for me to do that day. I’m amazed at some of the wonderful thoughts I receive.

If nothing comes, I recite the following:

Lord, clear me out of me.

Fill me up with You

and then clothe me with humility.

Then I listen again.

How about you? God has big plans for you, friend. Trust that. Also, take time to sit before Him and listen. Be willing to ask the same:

Good morning, Daddy! What are You up to today?

How can I help? I’m available.

You’ll be amazed at the doors He opens, and the lives that will be impacted … starting with yours!