Not Recognizing It’s His Doing

Preparation is not so painful when you consciously choose it, but what makes it hard is when you don’t recognize it for what it is. If God were to say to us, “I am behind all of this; what is happening to you right now is my way of refining (perfecting) you,” the whole ordeal would be more bearable. But as a rule God doesn’t do it that way. He just puts us through test after test, refining us and shaping us. Only later do we see what happened to us was His own planning.

In each of our lives there is extraordinary preparation going on in light of his amazing plan for us in this world. When God puts us through an extraordinary trial, nothing should be more encouraging, for God doesn’t mock us. He treats us with dignity and prepares us according to the task ahead. He doesn’t hurl us from A to Z but leads us from A to B, B to C, and so forth, following his own design for us.

All of this ongoing transformation is happening in the mundane, redundant, repetitious monotonous events of daily living. Therefore, it might be a great idea to NOT despise the day of small thing (beginnings)!

The promising things that God brings about often seem so insignificant at first. For example, a lackluster event may eventually be treasured. Nothing about it signaled, “Ah, this is going to be significant.” This is the way God frequently operates. The person who turns out to be of immense importance to you may not have impressed you at first sight. No lights flashed, no bells rang, and no voice uttered, “That person will be very special to you.” Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Many of God’s preparations for us are simply aimed to get our eyes off ourselves, to lead us out from our self-pity.

Rich