God, ROTC and Me

 Hey guys, would love for you to meet my friend Sara . Her story is a true example on what happens when we not only submit too God but let go and let Him take control!! Another example of allowing Christ to be UNLIMITED in your life!!

God, ROTC, and Me

By Sara Wagner

            I’m not sure if it’s the “yes ma’am’s” or the firm hand shakes, but I have been asked multiple times on different occasions if I would ever consider going into the military. The truth is, I never did. My sister was in the Army for six years and did one tour in Iraq and another tour in Afghanistan. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely respect all soldiers and every thing they do, but I just didn’t think that life was for me. Well, we all know God has His own way of directing our lives.

            I needed some way to pay for college and the college I wanted to attend was by no means cheap. So, I was talking with a friend who told me about a military scholarship that not only pays for all four years tuition, but academic fees, book fees, and a $300 monthly stipend. This is a national scholarship so I never thought I could get it, but I decided to go ahead and just see what happens. This is for the Army ROTC by the way.

Well, turns out, after hours upon hours of filling out this lengthy application and all the interviews and physical tests, I got it! I wasn’t quite sure how to take this at first. On one hand, all of my schooling was taken care of in one foul swoop, but on the other hand I was saying yes to going into the Army. Something I forgot to mention about the stipulations of this scholarship; after I graduate college, I have four years of active duty, and then the choice of either four more years of active duty or eight years of reserve duty. An eight to twelve year commitment to a profession I seemed to stumble upon was a little daunting to me. One more thing, the scholarship was specifically to a school other than the one I wanted to attend. That school was also nationally ranked number six as a party school. So, needless to say, I was very conflicted in my decision-making. This means it is time to get serious and pray. Any battle will be won if fought on your knees in surrender to the Lord who is ultimately in total control of all affairs. After all, as long as Moses kept his arms raised towards Heaven in praise and worship, the battle fell in their favor.

There was one loophole in this military scholarship; if I wanted to have the scholarship sent to another school, I could fill out a transfer request. I did my homework and called the military officers from both schools asking about the possibility of getting the transfer request approved. The men from both schools essentially told me to go for it and hope to get lucky, but not to get my hopes up. One officer told me that he had been doing his job for many years and very rarely saw any transfer request be approved. I filled it out and sent it in knowing that whatever the outcome, God would have His way.

Something incredible happened between the time period of submitting that transfer request and hearing back from the Army. God revealed His calling for me in my life! What is it, you say? He made me to be His missionary! Could you believe it, in the midst of all this military stuff God shows me I’m going to be living as a permanent missionary somewhere to serve! With this I said, “yes Lord.” To me this meant closing all doors to the military rout. I was still unsure about how I was going to pay for college, but I knew that following Jesus was far better than trying to figure out my own way.

As far as the scholarship goes (you’re not going to believe this), I got it! That’s right, my transfer request was approved. The scholarship went from a four-year full ride to a three-year full ride. And the school it got transferred to decided they would cover my tuition for that first un-paid year as a thank you for my commitment to the armed services. However, due to God’s call on my life, I did what I thought He wanted me to do. I declined the scholarship. The conditions they gave me were to respond back to them within fifteen days, otherwise the status of my scholarship would become “inactive.” It was the beginning of May when I received this notice.

All of May went by, and June and July followed suit. There was no more talk about going into the Army and I still sat idle wondering how God was going to pay for my education. One weekend, two weeks before I was to leave for college, I went school shopping with a friend in a neighboring town an hour and a half away. Upon my trip back home at one o’clock in the morning by myself, I decided I wanted to pray while driving home. At first I turned the radio on as an alert mechanism to keep me awake on the road. But as soon as I turned the radio on, I had this desire to pray. So I turned the radio off and began to talk with God. Soon enough I was pouring my heart out to my Father and weeping uncontrollably with a renewed sense of gratitude that He had given me. One area I talked to God about was college and how to pay for it. In honest confession I admitted my lack of trust in Him to provide the money I needed and the fear I kept inside. I must say that had to be one of the most intimate moments I have ever had with my Lord.

The first thing I did when I got home was tell my father what had happened to me on the ride home. Afterwards, to my amazement, he said, “so did mommy tell you about he Sargent calling to talk to you”. “No?” I said. “Well he called and talked to your mother and I and wanted to know if you were still interested in taking the scholarship in the fall.” Huh? “Dad, what are you talking about? That’s been long gone; the scholarship has been inactive for a while now. I can’t do it anymore, even if I wanted to. I’m going to be a missionary, remember?” “He said there was still time and if you wanted to, you could go through with it.” This floored me, but what my father said next are some words I will always carry with me. “You know Sara, what better way to learn how to survive in a foreign land than in the US Army.” I didn’t know what to say. I thought by turning down the scholarship I was doing God’s will and following His path for me. The problem was I had assumed that’s what He wanted me to do. I never actually felt Him close the door on the Army ROTC program, and I never heard Him tell me to walk away from it, I just assumed.

The truth is, I had been thinking about the Army and how nice it would be do have that scholarship all week, but each time I thought that, I would just pray and remind myself God is my provider and it is far better to follow Him than anyone or anything else. I received this news on a Thursday night, so from that day throughout the whole weekend, my family and I were in constant prayer over what He wanted done with my life. My father’s words kept coming back to me, and Sunday night I announced to my parents that I felt God’s peace in taking this scholarship. My dad said, “good, I feel peaceful about it too.” To me this was a confirmation because at the beginning of this journey, my dad did not want me to go into the Army. You see, my sister was in the Army and did great things, we were all very proud of her, but while in Afghanistan, her husband was killed. This really seemed to wreck her life and all her plans she had with her husband. I guess my dad didn’t want another daughter to face that same plight. But when he told me he felt God’s peace about this decision, it gave me even more peace in my spirit about stepping out and following God in this.

So now I attend Liberty University and am currently in their Army ROTC program. My testimony is not about getting an amazing scholarship, it is about God being the Grand Weaver in my story; it’s about Him proving Himself to be the Author and Finisher of my story and yours. Because God was so faithful to do this for me, you should find courage in that He will do it for you as well.