I often fall asleep with the television on. I usually awaken around 3 am to random infomercials selling knives, vitamins, or instant wealth. A few nights ago, I awakened to a Joel Osteen homily. The gist of the lecture: we never know who God will cause to have favor on us.

He illustrated his point by using the story of Ruth and Boaz. Ruth was a woman down on her luck. With husband dead, she had no means of support. She chose to follow her mother-in-law to the land of Israel. There, she caught the attention of the owner of the field, Boaz. Ruth becomes his wife and eventually the grandmother of King David.

Here I was, at 4 am, thinking about my life, doors, and the people God used to help me walk through such doors.

I spent countless years creating doors of opportunity for myself. Never satisfied with the present, I sought escape through various doors: military, education, career(s), marriage, children, hobbies, so on and so on.

Though I was successful with each endeavor, fulfillment was never reached. With a nagging sense of failure, I began closing each door. At the zenith of my service, I chose to discharge from the Air Force. I didn’t’ pursue my master’s degree. I quit my teaching job I so loved. I emotionally withdrew from my marriage. I physically existed as a stay at home mother. I lost interest in life, period.

Subsisting at best, I turned to the only thing that would provide relief, albeit temporary. Thus begun my disastrous affair with prescription pills. “No words can tell of the loneliness and despair I found in that bitter morass of self-pity. Quicksand stretched around me in all directions. I had met my match. I had been overwhelmed. Alcohol was my master.”

I gave up. I had gone as far as my ability would take me. I shut the door completely on life. God didn’t. Unexpectedly, He began opening doors…new doors…doors I had nothing to do with other than walk through in faith.

I end up at the best recovery center in the country (BRC) on the dime of a friend—a friend who God caused to have favor upon me. I learned to how to get connected to a power greater than myself from remarkable women mentors—mentors who God caused to have favor upon me. I now work in a job that challenges my intellect and forces me to rely upon God daily because of a boss—a boss that God caused to have favor upon me.

You never know who God will cause to notice you and in return use to open the doors to the life He wants you to live. All you have to do is walk in faith.

Vickie Bing is the Alumni Coordinator for BRC Recovery.  She received her B.A. in English from the University of Texas at Arlington.  Vickie is a former high school teacher and an Air Force veteran.  You can read other posts on her blog at The BRC Recovery Blog.