“Bismillah (In the name of God)”
We spend so much time trying to fix, plan, and control—yet Allah reminds us:
What we hold onto may fail us. But what we place in Allah’s care is never lost.
After a difficult year of teaching, I decided to take a break from teaching a class and work full time as a substitute teacher. The beauty of working as a substitute teacher is the fact that you don’t have to accept long-term assignments. You can work every day in a different school and in a different classroom and that was exactly my plan.
However, Allah (God) had a different plan for me. Out of nowhere, my friend who was working as an assistant teacher called me and asked me to send her my resume because she needed a teacher to work with. I explained to her my nightmare of the previous school year. I told her that I needed this year to light and free for me.
She replied, “I can guarantee you that this year will be free because, I will be there to help you, we will take the bus to go to work together and it will be fun. Besides, the owner can’t find a teacher for the class. Right now, it’s the director who is coming from time to time to teach in the classroom. She is scary to my students. She is yelling at them because she doesn’t want to do it. Please, send me your resume so I can give it to my boss, come for an interview, visit the class and see how sweet and loving the children are. I followed her instruction and accepted the position.
A month into the position, my boss informed me that the Department of Education did not accept my credentials. I am licensed from first to sixth grade. However, for this position, I need to be certified from birth to second grade. My easy year is becoming not so easy anymore. I had fallen in love with the children, and I didn’t want to leave them. I contacted the college where I studied to obtain my teaching credential. The advisor told me I only needed to take two additional courses to obtain the license that I needed for my current position. I followed her instruction and procured my second license.
True peace comes when we stop fighting the flow of Allah’s plan and begin trusting His wisdom.
My plan was to be a substitute teacher for the year, earning less money with no profound effect on any of the students that I would have seen that year. However, Allah (God) had a better plan for me. He gave me a chance to work with my best friend and an additional teaching credential. None of that would have happened if I had been stubborn.
Ask yourself
- What do I need to place in Allah’s hands?
- What am I holding onto too tightly?
- Where can I surrender today?
Prayer
O Allah (God), I place my affairs in Your care. You are the best planners. Ameen
Allah (God) alone is sufficient for me. He is the best disposer of my affairs. Ameen