31 Days of Victory : {Day 25} God Speaks

"You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. 

Whom have I in Heaven but you? And Earth has nothing I desire beside you."

Psalm 73:24-25

Have you ever been in a church service and felt as if the pastor was speaking directly to you? That’s what happens when God speaks to us through His children. It’s no coincidence when someone speaks directly to your heart on a matter that they know nothing about. It’s the Lord! Today, since I still have breath in my lungs and strength in my fingers to type, it is another day to testify. 

It seems a bit awkward that I continue to share stories about my life. I certainly don’t want this blog to be about me. My heart is to share God’s goodness and point people toward Him. One way that I know how to do that is to openly share the beauty of His faithfulness through story.... so I continue to obey, and I type.

My prayer is that you, child of God, would understand that He is writing your story right now. 

At age 18, I moved from California to Tennessee for music. After being in the industry for a number of years I decided to move back home. I never wanted to move back to Nashville because, in my mind, it was the City of Broken Dreams. There was nothing left for me in Nashville, beside my husband {boyfriend at the time}. But I was confidant God would call him to move to California so we could get married. Well... that’s not the way it panned out.

Out of nowhere I seemed to be feeling a prompting to move back to Nashville. I had no desire to move, which was the first clue that this was not coming from me. I decided to visit my boyfriend for a weekend in Nashville. {We commonly flew back and forth to see each other during 2 years of long distance dating.} I stayed with one of my best friends. When Sunday morning rolled around I woke up from her guest bed and prepared myself for church. I’ll never forget my prayer that morning.

“God, if you want me to move to Nashville, I need confirmation today.  Not just any kind of confirmation, Lord. I need ‘hit me over the head with a frying pan’ kind of confirmation. God, will you hit me over the head with your confirmation today? If so, I’ll follow. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”

That probably sounds like a funny prayer, but God heard it, and He answered it! I walked into Strong Tower Bible Church that morning and it felt like home. I ran into many familiar faces. One couple that I love dearly came to greet me and the first words out of their mouth were, “Monique, when are you moving back to Nashville?” I was a little taken back but I replied with something like, “I don’t know what God has in store. We’ll see.” 

After greeting a few people, I found my seat and the service began. About halfway through the sermon, I got up to use the restroom. There, in the ladies room, I ran into our family pastor’s wife. She stopped me, hugged me, and said, “Listen, girly, when are you moving to Nashville? You know you belong here!” I tucked her words away in my heart but still didn’t feel like it was my 'frying pan' answer to prayer. {Apparently I’m hard headed.}

When church was over, the Family Pastor came up to me and said, “Monique, let me talk to you, my sister. When are you moving to Nashville?” The first words out of my mouth were, “Did you talk your wife? I ran into her in the ladies room and she said the same thing.” He responded, “No I haven’t talked with her. But you know God is calling you here.”

Then the frying pan moment came.

A man whom I had never met before came up to our conversation. He joined right in without hesitation, saying, “Young lady, this is where you belong. The moment you walked through the doors this morning, you knew that this was your home. You know that I am not speaking my own words because I don’t know you. We’ve never met. How would I know to say this unless it was the Spirit's prompting? God is speaking and He is calling you here. Now you have a choice as to whether or not you will obey.” {For those of you who know him, that man was Pastor Deny Denson, who is now with our Lord in Heaven.}

There it was. I was hit over the head with confirmation that morning. I didn’t have a job or a place to live in Nashville. All I knew is that I needed to go. At first, my family didn’t support my decision to move. I was accused of having a lovesick heart and was told that I was just moving to Nashville to chase after a guy. {I’m not mad at that though. He did end up being my husband, after all.} Some of my closest family members didn’t even want to come to my going away party. But I had to be obedient to Christ, even if it meant being disobedient to my family. I didn’t receive my father’s blessing until the night before I boarded the plane with my one-way ticket to Nashville.

The beauty of obeying God is that He will make a way where there seems to be no way and He will bring a bit more clarity with each step of faith.

Like I mentioned, I had no place to live. God placed a friend on my heart that I hadn’t talked to in over a year. Every time I prayed about housing, her name came to mind. I was afraid to call because I hadn’t kept in touch. It felt so random to call her out of the blue! But I decided to contact her out of obedience. To my surprise, after we chatted for a few minutes, she said, “Monique, I’m so glad you called. I heard through the great vine that you’re moving back to Nashville. I’ve been praying for a roommate and I’ve been specifically praying that it would be you.”

Wow! God speaks!

When I arrived in Nashville, with a place to stay - including a monthly rent - but no job, I still had faith that God would provide. I interviewed for a job that, according to my resume, I was completely unqualified for, and was hired less than 24 hours later. My boss eventually shared that he had interviewed over 15 other highly qualified individuals, but the moment my interview began, he knew that I was the one for the job. It was God who opened that door for me.

Look at how He moves. He still speaks and when we’re obedient, He provides!

Moving to Nashville has absolutely changed my life for the better. I never dreamed that I would work at a church or end up being a pastor's wife, or find so much joy in saying YES to God's prompting. And now, in an interesting twist, He's leading us back to California for a new season of ministry.

Sometimes God calls us to walk through a door that has only mystery on the other side. But when we realize that His plans for us are only to prosper us and give us a hope and  a bright future, we find the courage to grab hold of that knob, and turn it open in obedience. 

What is God calling you to do? Has He been speaking? If so, will you reach for that knob and say "YES, Lord"? 


I'm stepping out in faith. Will you join me? {Lord, today I say YES to your mysteries, YES to your will, and YES to your way. YES LORD!}  

With God, victory is certain. 

Monique Zackery

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