I had been praying about an opportunity to go deeper with God. I knew lots of people who had done or were doing a Discipleship Training School with YWAM and had come back really fired up for God, so naturally I wanted to do one of those as well. I initiated contact with a couple of YWAM bases but it came to nothing and my husband wasn’t keen. So I surrendered that idea for the time being.
I came across a college offering a graduate diploma in Kingdom Theology and unlike YWAM, the doors to this kept opening. The more I prayed, the more peace I got for it. It cost quite a bit of money so when the time came to pay up for it I felt really nervous: was this the right thing that God was calling me to? So I asked God to give me a dream or some other confirmation.
The next night I had a dream: I was sitting at the top of a diving board too scared to jump in, but when I assessed the situation the water beneath me was deep and the pool was wide so there was no real danger. The ladder back down to the ground was steep and if I lost my footing it would have been a bad fall onto hard ground. I didn't know what the dreamt meant immediately so wrote it down and got on with life. Two weeks later I was at the swimming pool and as I dived down into the water I loved the feeling of it and I was thanking God for the joy of swimming. God gave me the revelation of the dream in that moment — that the opportunity right in front of me, was for me, it was wide and deep into the Word of God and it was something I would love.
I’ve now completed the first year of the course and have so many smaller testimonies of how God blessed me, provided for me and trained me over the year doing this course. I'm so thankful for His leading me into His chosen thing for me, which wasn’t the thing I would have chosen.
Jill Ruddell
Re:Hope West End
Ask God for clarity about which doors He’s opening for you in this season. If it feels like there are no doors open ahead, petition Him today for an opportunity you long for!