1. Abraham was 99 years old before he received God’s promise of a legitimate heir.
2. Joseph was enslaved, imprisoned, and an outcast from his brothers for 13 years before God used him to fulfill his mission in his family’s life (as this devotional mentions.)
3. Moses spent 40 years in the back side of the desert before God could use him to lead the Israelites to the promised land.
4. Joshua, who was told how to continually be successful, watched Moses for most of 40 years while Joshua’s contemporaries died, before God used Joshua to lead Israel to overcome the inhabitants of their promised land.
5. Gideon “fleeced the Lord” twice before he was convinced God would use him to drive the Midianites out. God even gave him a special spy trip to get the inside scoop on the thinking of the Midianites on the the night of the attack, as I remember.
6. David (as recounted in this devotional) was hounded and harassed by Saul for years before God fulfilled His promise to make him King of Israel.
7. Jesus was born a baby, raised to adulthood, and thirty years old before He was anointed with the Holy Spirit and began His public ministry.
…in His time…God makes all things possible in His time. In His time, as He develops you and places where He wants you in the future, there are some things you can count on that will bring blessing to you and those you whom you work. As you delight in what God wants, He will not only develop your desires, but He will show you your desires, and He will see that those desires are fulfilled in your life.
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Thanks Dad.
So true. I followed the link here from your note on Relevant Magazine. I quit my job to search for a youth pastor position in March 04. It looks like something will finally come up in August. It’s crazy — I tend to be selfish and ambitious and think that God has wasted so much time and so much of my potential. It’s been hard for me to cope with a God whose agenda for my life is different than mine. I’m still dealing with that. God has pushed me to the breaking point, and I am still dangerously near it — one rejection away from utter chaos. There is nothing I can say to make this time in your life easier — I know from experience. But victory is all the sweeter when it comes after suffering, and the promise of God is that you will get your reward one day. God Bless, my brother.
So true. I followed the link here from your note on Relevant Magazine. I quit my job to search for a youth pastor position in March 04. It looks like something will finally come up in August. It’s crazy — I tend to be selfish and ambitious and think that God has wasted so much time and so much of my potential. It’s been hard for me to cope with a God whose agenda for my life is different than mine. I’m still dealing with that. God has pushed me to the breaking point, and I am still dangerously near it — one rejection away from utter chaos. There is nothing I can say to make this time in your life easier — I know from experience. But victory is all the sweeter when it comes after suffering, and the promise of God is that you will get your reward one day. God Bless, my brother.