07/15/2026
The number 7 is often associated with completion. Looking back, I see how often that number has appeared at the moments God was changing my direction.
My last day in my previous career was on the 7th day of the 7th month of my 7th year.
My church is celebrating its 7th year.
When my final paycheck arrived, the amount was $707.00.
To some, those are just numbers.
To me, they’re reminders that God has been writing a story long before I recognized it.
Just before my 40th birthday, I survived an accident that should have killed me.
Doctors told me there was no medical explanation for why I was still alive.
Looking back now, I can’t help but see a parallel to Israel’s 40 years in the wilderness.
My accident marked the end of my own proverbial wilderness. It was the moment God stopped allowing me to run and confronted me with the life I had been living.
However, just because my wilderness ended, I didn’t immediately entered the Promised Land.
My next six years represented incompletion.
I searched for peace while refusing complete surrender.
I wrestled with trauma, pride, addiction, purpose, and the question, “Why am I still alive?”
I wanted answers from God.
Those years weren’t punishment, they were preparation.
God was stripping away everything that stood between me and Him.
Then came the seventh year. Instead of asking God to explain everything, I finally surrendered everything.
He transformed my marriage, my priorities, my career, my calling, and my heart.
I stopped chasing positions and started pursuing purpose.
I traded control for obedience, status for service, and the temporary peace the world offers for the lasting peace that only Christ can give.
The first day of my new career which is centered on mentoring, serving, and pouring into others…falls on my one-year completely sober from alcohol anniversary.
A new beginning on the anniversary of the day God freed me from one of the things that was beginning to keep me in bo***ge.
I spent most of my life running from my calling, from conviction, from the countless signs God had placed in front of me.
God whispered for years, but I kept ignoring Him. Eventually, He had to get my attention in a way I could never ignore.
Now, I don’t ask, “Why did I survive?”
I ask, “Lord, how can I use the life You spared for Your glory?”
Looking back, I see a God who never stopped pursuing me.
Maybe that’s what completion really looks like…not having life all figured out, but finally laying it down at the feet of the One who had been calling your name all along.
