Perfect Preparation!

Every experience God give us, every person He puts into our lives, is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see. ~~Corrie Ten Boom

Wow! There have been so many things going around in my head since I read this quote this morning! It is relevant in so many areas of my life right now, and it is only one sentence!

First of all, even those difficult times that we walk through help to define us and prepare us for what God has purposed for us! At the time, we can't think of anything positive that could come out of that situation, but God can use it to refine us and prepare us for what He has later!

Another thought I had is that sometimes we meet people and at the time have no realization of how important that "chance" meeting might be someday! We never know which person we meet that may end up being a very important part of the plans God has for us!

The final thing I've been thinking about, is the part about the future. There are times when I feel like the Lord is preparing me for something and I get impatient because I'm not exactly sure what it is and I'm not seeing anything happening yet. He's been teaching me that sometimes the preparation can take a while! He begins to place that yearning and allow certain pieces to fall into place long before the actual moment He's been preparing us for is here! I believe that He takes so much pleasure in that time of us seeking Him and simply trusting Him as He shapes us and molds us for that exact thing He wants us to do. And, when that moment comes and you look back and you see how all the pieces fit together, WOW!

Okay, so now the moment of truth! I had written out what I wanted to post before I left for a little while this afternoon. I came home to not so great news which made me stop and think do I really, truly believe any of what I just wrote! I do! I needed to type this to remind myself how much I believe it and how much God has been faithful in the past! He WILL be faithful again! It's part of a bigger picture, the future that only He can see!

Steven Curtis Chapman - Miracle of the Moment - Lyrics

I know it has been forever since I've blogged at all. My life has been nuts the last two weeks and I just haven't found the time! Earlier this week I was riding in the car and Steven Curtis Chapman's song Miracle of the Moment came on the radio. The lyrics really jumped out at me like they never had before! Listen to the song and really read/listen to the lyrics!

As the words settled into my heart, I felt very convicted and challenged! Just the day before I was lamenting all the choices we've made that we would do differently if we could go back and change them! Well, you know what, we can't, and even if we could, would we be better off to? Yes, we would've made some wiser choices and prepared better for the time we are in, but would we be the people we are today without the circumstances we've walked through? Would we know God's grace and provision to the same measure?

How often do I get caught up worrying about the days to come and what's going to happen if... I have come a long way in learning to trust the Lord with our future, but have to admit that I still have many days where I am worried and trying to figure out how to "fix" our problems!

So often we become so caught up in regretting our past and worrying about our future that we miss today! I was really challenged that the only thing I can do anything about is today! Yes, we need to be wise and prepare for our futures, but you know what, if I seize today and walk in obedience to my Lord today, my future is resting in His hands and what better place for it to be!

Matthew 6:25-27

New International Version (NIV)

Do Not Worry

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[a]?

I am glad that I serve a God big enough to redeem my past and hold my future! I can let both of those things go and claim today! I challenge you to join me in living in the moment and looking for God's miraculous hand all around us! God is so good and He doesn't want us to live feeling defeated or overwhelmed by guilt or worry! Let Him carry your load so you can enjoy the day that He's given you!