How can we understand the road we travel? It is the Lord who directs our steps.
Sometimes we wonder what we are doing on the path we are on. We wonder: why are we in this job? Did we choose the right career? Other times, when we ask God for direction, we are not very happy with His answer. We want Him to agree with our plans instead of us being open to His direction. But we must trust His guidance because He promises us “the steps of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every detail of their lives.” (Psalm 37:23 NLT)
God really cares and is interested in every single step we make in our lives. He does plan and orders our steps. He knows the things to come to our lives in the future, so He prepares us and gives us the grace to handle them. When we give Him control of our lives, He prepares the way, opens doors that no man can shut,
and closes doors He knows are not for us. There will be times when we will not want to take some of those steps, but we must.
We can go through doors and walk on water as Peter did with Him. He is our strong rock and safety. He is our light that illuminates the way we need to go. His Word is the lamp unto our feet. With His Word, He guides us every single step, and we follow by faith, believing in our hearts that He loves us.
It is okay if we don’t understand every step we make. The Lord knows what those steps are, where they will take us, and how many we can handle at a time. There are many things in this life we will not understand until we meet our Creator face to face and spend eternity with Him. There are other things we don’t understand right now, but He will reveal to us later when we are ready.
Don’t worry about understanding the road you are on. If you are with the Lord, He is in charge, and He indeed directs your steps.
Excerpt permission granted by Marcia Malzahn.
Marcia Malzahn (Marci) was born in Nicaragua, Central America. In 1979 she left Nicaragua due to a revolution and moved to the Dominican Republic and lived there for seven years. Marcia moved to Minnesota in 1986 and started a career in banking with Marquette Banks that continued for the next thirteen years in the areas of Cash Management, Private Banking, and Retail Banking. In 1995 Marcia became the first Online Banking Specialist in the Twin Cities.
In 1999, she moved to the IT field and started working for Living Word Christian Center (LWCC), a non-profit 501(c)3 organization. At LWCC, she held the positions of Y2K Project Manager, Director of IT, Associate in charge of Finance, Human Resources and IT, and was Corporate Assistant Secretary of the Board. She managed a budget of $31.5MM and 28 employees.
In January 2005, Marcia moved back to the banking field and helped start a new bank in Edina, MN, Tradition Capital Bank, now at over $400 million in assets. From 2005 to 2013, Marcia was the Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Financial Officer of the bank. In January, 2014, Marcia’s role changed to EVP/COO and was promoted to Chief Risk Officer. Marcia was also the Corporate Secretary of the bank’s Board and of the holding company’s Board.
In October 2014, Marcia started her own bank consulting firm, Malzahn Strategic, focusing on Strategic Planning, Enterprise Risk Management, and Talent Management for community banks. Marcia is also a public speaker and speaks on motivational/inspirational/leadership topics as well as banking topics such as Enterprise Risk Management. She holds an Associates of Arts degree from North Hennepin Community College and graduated with a B.A. in Business Management from Bethel University. Marcia also graduated from the Graduate School of Banking in Madison, WI.
Marcia is involved in the community. She was a member of Financial Women International for sixteen years and held several board positions including president of the local group and of the District. She is a member of the Minnesota Women Economic Roundtable and served as treasurer for two years. Marcia is also chair of the Board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities. Marcia has also volunteered in other organizations including Matter, Pulse Movement, Opportunity International, Way to Grow, Feed My Starving Children, HopeKids, Meals on Wheels, and Farmers Market Youth Project.
Marcia was the recipient of many awards including:
• 25 On The Rise award given by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in December, 2005.
• Forty Under 40 award given by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal in May, 2006
• Virginia D. H. Furman Outstanding Woman of the Year award from Financial Women International in September, 2006
• Top Women in Finance award from Finance and Commerce Newspaper in November, 2008
• Outstanding Women in Banking award given by the North Western Financial Review magazine in November, 2009
Marcia is the author of her book Devotions for Working Women – A Daily Inspiration to Live a Successful and Balanced Life published in 2006. Marcia published her second book The Fire Within – Connect Your Gifts with Your Calling in October 2015. Marcia and her husband Tim live in Minnesota and have two children: Nicole and Patrick. Marcia enjoys spending time with her family, working out, singing, writing, and public speaking.