Are You Getting Ready?

Have you ever tried to do something important that took time to achieve? It is human nature to desire success. For example, if you are a student in school you know how hard it is to get the “A+” in every class. It takes hard work, preparation, time in the library, time in study groups, money, prioritizing your time, buying books, reading the books, taking notes, going to class, going to class on time, and a ton of effort.

Not sure if this blog will make sense to anyone, but it’s on my heart: Time to get ready for work in God's kingdom. Think of all the people in the Bible who had to get ready: Moses (Exodus 2-40), Elisha (1 Kings 19-2 Kings 13), Joseph (Genesis 37-45), just to name a few who had to wait a long time in preparation for their callings.

Getting ready takes time. Sometimes you have to go back and fix something so that the big picture can function as a unified whole. Sometimes you have to be tested and tried for endurance before the race. If you are ill prepared, it may not show right now, but it sure will come out later. for example, you might be able to slide by in school by “bluffing” or “cheating”, but the truth is that one day it will matter. It matters to God. What will you say to God about the "A+" you received because you cheated?

I often think about Joseph in the Bible and how he was in prison for a long time for something he did not do. But it was during that time that God blessed him. He became a man of God while down in that prison. However, Joseph remained faithful to God. He probably had a lot of time to fast and pray which made him ready mentally and spiritually for the next level in his walk with God. Is it possible that Joseph would have made a good advisor to the Pharaoh if he had not first gone through all those struggles in Prison and the many setbacks that life threw at him? I doubt it. God rewarded Joseph for his faithfulness and steadfast devotion to the one true and Living God.

Are you getting ready for something that God has for you to do in His kingdom? And when the time comes for you to run that race, or take that test. You will be able to say that you did everything possible to be prepared.

As a young musician, I took private music lessons. A very wise music teacher once told me: “Don’t just practice the first bassoon part! Practice the second bassoon part and the third bassoon part and the contrabassoon part! Be ready!” You never know how being over-prepared can lead to promotion. And how being underprepared can lead to shame, even demotion.

The Bible says in 2 Timothy 2:15:
‘Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth.’ (AMP)

Being ready means that you can be used by God in any capacity whenever and however He so chooses. Are you ready to get ready? God is always ready for you.

Questions
What are you needing to get ready for today? Are you getting impatient?

Prayer
Dear Lord, help us to be ready to do your will at any time whenever and however You might need us. Let us prepare ourselves in patience and grace before You for work in Your kingdom. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Read about Joseph in Genesis Chapters 37-45 (NIV)
Also check out 2 Timothy 4:1-2, Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NIV)

Song in my Head
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. I want to see You. To see You high and lifted up shining in the light of Your glory! Pour out You power and love…’ -M.W. Smith

Wait On the Lord

I’ve been thinking about this particular blog idea for several weeks. The idea of waiting for something can be overwhelming for a lot of people. It’s like when you’re at the DMV waiting, and waiting, and waiting playing that weird Bingo game wishing your number was up. Do you pack a lunch and take a book with you to the DMV? I certainly do, LOL! Or when you go to the doctor and the whole office is behind schedule because one person was late and now everyone in the waiting room has to wait. But this is how life is sometimes. You grow up, you learn to wait. And if you never learn how to wait, you end up looking childish over and over again.

Gotta pass this test otherwise, I’ll have to take it again. Gotta learn how to wait on the Lord.

I saw a t-shirt advertising the movie Forrest Gump one time and it said: “Gump happens.” Sometimes, life happens, but it is in these moments of waiting that our character is truly seen. Like gold in the fire, once purified, it stops jumping and popping and all of the impurities are burned away.

The thing about being a child of God’s kingdom is that you must learn certain things in order to grow. One of those difficult lessons is learning how to wait properly on the Lord.

Wait quietly, seek God’s face, study His Word, memorize His Word, sing worship songs to encourage yourself, encourage others to wait for the things of God right alongside you. Talk to people who’ve waited on the Lord and have seen His promises fulfilled in their lives. But most of all, while you wait put your hands to good use in the Lord’s work.

Learn to wait well and the Lord will honor your waiting. Wait, wait well, warrior!

Questions For Reflection
How well do you wait? Are you waiting on the fulfillment of God’s promise today?

Prayer
Dear Lord, Help us to wait on You and to be strengthened as we wait. Make us ready so that when the time is right for the fulfillment of Your promises in Your Holy Word, we will be fully immersed in Your will. Let us not look to the right or to the left, but always to You, Lord. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Read
Some of God’s promises to those who wait: Isaiah 40: 28-31, Psalm 37:9, Psalm 27:14

Song in My Head
‘Wait, wait, wait on the Lord and you’ll see that He will always keep His Word! You must just trust in Him don’t be dismayed…’ D. McClurkin and Karen Clark Sheard