God Will Prepare Us

If God has captured your heart, He will prepare you for what He has planned.

Through the opportunities and people He brings into our lives, He will ready us for His purpose.

God certainly did that with David.

“I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats,” he said. “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God!” 1 Samuel 17:34-36 NLT

I doubt that after wrestling a bear, David thought to himself, “Now that’s a skill that will come in handy one day!”

But when it came time to convince King Saul to let him go up against Goliath, that’s when he knew the experience had prepared him for something else.

God brings us to opportunities that will prepare us for something else.

A couple of years ago, I had no interest in social media. I had already started my blog and was leading online Bible studies, but Twitter and Facebook? No thank you.

I’d made up my mind, so God went to work dragging me (there may have been some kicking and screaming too) into social media.

An opportunity with Proverbs 31 Ministries presented itself, but to be involved, I would need to be on Facebook. As reluctant as I was, this new prospect was too good to pass up. So, I created a Facebook page and a Twitter account at the same time.

The Proverbs 31 opportunity never materialized, but through Twitter, I found a warm, encouraging community of other Christian women writers. And I was introduced to 5 Minutes for Faith, where I’m now a monthly contributor.

God brought something into my life that He knew would not work out, but the purpose was to move me closer to where He wanted me.

He does that with people too.

Last week, Holley Gerth asked her God-sized Dream Team to find a buddy within the team for prayer, encouragement, and accountability.

Being outside of my comfort zone, I stalled. For almost a week. Then, for some reason, I decided I could at least look at who, from the team, had buddied up.

I noticed the name of a fellow blogger not on the buddy list and sent her a Facebook message asking if she wanted to be prayer partners.

Although we’ve never met, we’ve followed each other’s blogs and we’ll both be attending the same retreat this spring.

So, instead of feeling intimidated, I felt comfortable in contacting her out of the blue. (Thanks God!)

It wasn’t until after Stefanie responded favorably that I remembered my first days on Twitter… her blog UpLIFTing Words was one of the very first to draw me in to the community and make me feel like I belong. {big smile}

Is there an experience in your life that has prepared you for something else?

In Christ,

Laura

Linking up with Heart to Heart with Holley, Sharing His Beauty, Soli Deo Gloria, Into the Beautiful, Winsome Wednesday, and WholeHearted Home.