I am in the midst of reviewing the last 5 months of my life thru this blog…trying to organize the posts into themes as another way of you and me using this blog…in preparation for me to move this blog over to another service (I know, I know…I said I would do this a few months ago…but I cannot keep to a schedule lately!). Hopefully you will enjoy my new labels/tags.
Furthermore, I wanted to conduct this review so that I could get a good handle FROM where God has brought me these last few months – and hope to have that post out to you all in the next few days along with my thanks to the individuals that have impacted my transformational journey thus far.
In the meantime, a new friend of mine shared some insight last week with me about her study of the life of Abraham. She gave me permission to post it here – for I know that you will enjoy this as much as I did.
Enjoy reading and then asking yourself:
How and for what do I possibly think I am being prepared for? What promises have I heard from God that I am still waiting on God to fulfill? And what am I doing in my “waiting” now?
I have been studying Abraham and his life this week…. In prayer this morning, God shared with me something that filled me with so much joy and excitement, I cannot contain it. And I want to share that with you now.Facts about Abraham:
Abraham & Sarah hear God’s promise
-Abraham was a wealthy farmer, and he grew his wealth. But he was always willing to give his best to God.-Abraham had a hard time giving everything to God and not taking things into his own hands (boy can I relate!). In fact, he struggled with this over and over again.-With (and despite of his wealth) Abraham was prepared. He planned so that he could be used by God when needed – to rescue family, to move, etc.In this story, I find a few things:-The ability to forgive ourselves for when we are not our best or “waste” time. (Of course, if that time was part of the journey to where we are now, to prepare us for the journey… is it really wasted?) Even Abraham struggled and failed – but God was merciful and saw His heart and forgave his weakness, often with mercy that not only forgave, but saved him from himself. Isn’t God amazing 🙂-And THIS is what I am so excited about…Abraham was prepared! God does not always call right away. He does not always tell us HOW to prepare – isn’t free will both awesome and frustrating. But we should prepare.Am I prepared to be called to serve God in exciting ways when I sit in my office, go home, go to church… etc? Maybe. God will use what I have to give, and he will absolutely use those things.But if we want God to use us for more exciting “adventures” and “missions,” shouldn’t we prepare?Are we prepared, right now, to go into Somalia and protect women and children from the gangs of men pillaging their villages? Are we prepared, right now, to walk away from everything and go work as rescue workings, healing the wounds of evil and extracting those in danger?No. But I would love for God to use me in those ways. I crave it so much at times I cannot think about anything else. And even when most prepared, can’t we always be more prepared?Think about Batman… before he could save the streets of Gotham City, he had to prepare. Lose part of himself and his attachments, get stronger, build tools, etc.
We are not God, we cannot say HOW God will use the offerings we prepare. Perhaps he will send us to Africa, or Israel, or SE Asia. Or perhaps he will lead us into our own backyards and open our eyes to the suffering next door. But God promises to fulfill the desires of our hearts, and by that, I believe he promises to align our hearts with His so His will fulfills our desires. And he will use everything we have to offer, when the time is right and we have prepared.And then, in this perspective, prepare makes everything have more purpose. In this office, right now, I am garnering the resources to prepare. I am storing energy and in an environment where I can have my heart focused on God, on myself, and those things in my life that need careful thought and wise decisions made. I am preparing myself.
So in this time, I am praising God for His promises and I am SO excited to prepare. Actively prepare. How? Still figuring that out….Definitely by digging into the word to become a better desciple and better prepared to share His word and demonstrate his truth in my life.
What I do know, and what God shared this morning, is that this time… IS for me to prepare, and God WILL use that preparation and assign purpose, understanding and a mission. It felt like God was saying “Don’t worry, you are one of my secret agents, but for what I have planned for you, you need to prepare and be trained…” and that is pretty cool. Praise God 🙂
