Recently I listned to a sermon by Eric Ludy entitled
"Five Smooth Stones". Soso good.
If you remember correctly, David tended sheep for his ocupation. Of course he played the harp and accomplished other things, but it was pretty basic and mundane. Soon we see that God reveals a dream to David; he is going to be king over all Israel. Impressive and thrilling. What happened next? David was sent back to the sheep.
Several opportunities presented themselves where David could have easily taken over Saul's place and claimed his appointed throne. But no, David was faithful in the small things, if you could say killing a bear with you bare hands is a small feat, and he was justly rewarded.
Eric mentioned that sometimes God gives us a dream, or a vision of what the future will hold... and than sends us back to the sheep. Back to the basics, back to the training ground. Why, because He wants to make us miserable and waste our life? No. Because He is preparing us for a future only He can see.
God has given me dreams, passions and pursuits, and I tend to get so excited about them that I want to plunge headfirst. I find myself getting discouraged when things aren't happening as fast, or in the right way, as I was anticipating. Stuck in the basic run-of-the-mill opportunities of life is boring and seemingly meaningless.
What if we change our perspective? What if we start to trust God that His timing is best? Would our attitude change? Maybe you're not in the mundane phase of life, but maybe you are. What now? Just as a note, this post is
not about to encourage complacency, sit around at home twindling our thumbs... quite the opposite.
For those of you with a dream... here are a couple things I've found helpful.
- Write out your thoughts, purposes, passions. It's encouraging to see how God hones our desires and brings His desires pervading through our soul; once we give Him free reign. I find it so helpful to journal what God lays on my heart.
- Be faithful. Life isn't always glamourous and amazing. Of course we learn to enjoy the practical phases of life, but start with being thankful and diligent in the areas He has placed in front of you; serving family, job, schoolwork, learning a language, perfecting your trade, etc.
- Pursue your interests. This could be taken the wrong way... but what I mean is to get active in the areas you feel God may be calling you. I love teenage girls, working with them, sharing the gospel, interacting, everything. My dad encouraged me to seek out opportunities where I could be involved in girls' lives - I started volunteering at a local pregnancy center and this has only served to deepen my love for Jesus and the girls around me. I also began to mentor a teenage girl with a local ministry, and have learned that relationships are wondeful, but challenging.
- Don't be discouraged. This one is hard for me, but I think the first step {write it out} comes into play here. When we write down our passions, thoughts about what God is speaking, we can go back and renew our focus and energy. Never ever despire seemingly meaningless tasks/work.
- Live for Jesus Christ alone. Why are you doing what you're doing? For the praise of Jesus, or yourself? I have to be honest - I'm a people pleaser. But lately Jesus has been chipping away at the block of self {or more like taking a chainsaw to it} and conforming it to seek only the praise of His name. Ask God to give you opportunities to serve in little ways, unoticed activities, tasks done only for the glory of God.
"Therefore... be steadfast, immovable,
always abounding
in the work of the Lord,
knowing that in the Lord
your labor is not in vain."
1 Cor 15:58
Your life is drastically different than mine, so it's going to look different. Your training ground could be at home, at college, in Africa or in north Omaha, that's not the point. The point is to
seek the Lord and serve Him with every fiber of your being,
no matter the situation. David fought a lion and bear in preparation for a giant Philistine. John the Baptist roamed in the desert before he prepared the way for the Messiah. Moses spent time away from Egypt before God used him to free His people from bondage. Seasons of preparation are viatally important. Let us not underestimate the lessons we'll learn, people we'll meet, experiences we'll experience, personalities we'll interact with...
EVERY experience God gives us,
EVERY person He puts in our lives,
is the PERFECT preparation for the future that only He can see.
- Corrie tenBoom
- these are a bit of thoughts in regards to a
previous post. expect more to come.
