Written by Chuck Swindoll, these encouraging devotional thoughts are published seven days per week.
I want to offer you some encouragement, but I need to start with a realistic comment: it may be a long time before God moves you into a place of significant impact. He may choose not to reveal His plan for weeks, maybe months. Are you ready for this? It could be years. I have found that one of God's favourite methods of preparing us for something great is to send us into the shadows to wait.
If you're in a hurry, you can make it work your way. It may have all the marks of promotion, but it won't be the Lord's way. Stop and realize that. It may be time for you to be let down off your wall in a basket to learn that in your life.
Wasn't it a waste of great talent for God to put Paul on hold? Not at all. Wasn't Tarsus a strange assignment? Not if He wanted him to be prepared to write the letter to the Romans. Not if he would have any lasting impact on the backsliding believers at Corinth. Not if He wanted Paul to mentor Timothy for a lifetime of strategic ministry in Ephesus. Those projects (and dozens of others) called for a depth of character, forged through the lessons that taught him dependence—both on God and on others.
God has designed His family to be that sort of support network for all of us. Nobody can handle all the pressure over the long haul. Companionship and accountability are essential!
You may be a Barnabas today. Do you know someone who has been kicked in the teeth because he has a bad track record? Someone who can't get a hearing, yet she's turned her life around and nobody wants to believe it? I urge you to step up like Barnabas did for Saul.
Ever felt the sting of that kind of rejection? Have you ever had such a bad track record that people didn't want to associate with you or welcome you into their fellowship? (Or welcome you back?) It happens all the time.
Instead of speeding up, slow down and rethink. I don't want you to miss any of these words. I've thought about them for years. Instead of speeding up, let's find ways to slow down and rethink. Taking time to discover what really matters is essential if we're going to lift the curse of superficiality that shadows our lives.
We're not busy doing all the wrong things or even a few terrible things. We're certainly not persecutors or destroyers. But if the truth were known, we'll go for miles on fumes, all the while choking the life-giving spirit within.
The transformation is stunning. Saul, no doubt with blood stains still on his garment from Christians he had tortured, now stood with arms outstretched announcing, "I'm here to testify to you that Jesus is the Messiah, God's Son." And the people who heard it were amazed.
Stepping out in faith always brings clarification of God's plan. When Ananias went to see Saul, he received additional information. As Saul submitted himself to the ministry of Ananias, he found out more about God's plan for his life.
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