What is God preparing you for? I love to think about the future. I also like to think that I have it all figured out. I enjoy analyzing the situation, finding the solution and guessing what God is up to. You know how many times I have been right? Not once.
One thing that I have learned though is that in every situation God has a plan and is getting us ready for what he wants us to do next while challenging us to figure out how to handle what we are doing now.
As God is preparing you, have you ever had to wait? That is so frustrating. I am not a patient person. Yet my timing has never been as good as God’s. We are heading into a study of the book of Joshua, and one of the key takeaways through this book is God’s timing.
Joshua had to learn this lesson the hard way. A passage that has struck me that prepares us to go into Joshua is in Numbers 14.
Twelve men went to survey the land that God had given them. Ten came back and said they could never take it. There were too many challenges in front of them. Two of them said it was ripe for the taking. Those two were Joshua and Caleb. This passage shares the reaction of the people when they heard from the ten that it would be impossible to enter the land:
Numbers 14:1-10
That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.” But the whole assembly talked about stoning them.
I can imagine that Joshua had to have been in disbelief. Can you not see that now is the time? God has said go. Let’s go! And yet the nation did not want to follow. As you read through the rest of Numbers you learn real quick why you don’t want to go against God.
But God was also preparing Joshua in this moment for what was to come. He was teaching him to be strong and courageous so that when it was his time he would truly be ready.
I look back on my life now and see that plain as day in every situation I have been a part of. God was working to prepare me for where I am now. I also know though that what I am going through now is getting me ready for what is next. What is God preparing you for? My prayer is that it is something big. He is doing that here at New Life. We have to be ready for it and when the time comes we must act. Not like the ten that said no but like the two that said go.
So go into where you are today ready for what happens right now, praying for what God has next, and see him do great things!