Preparation: Part 2

Chosen for Preparation

Last week, at Fusion we looked at the ways we choose to be prepared. This week, we are going to talk about how God prepares us.

So often, we look at our lives, at areas where we have failed or fallen, and we assume that those things disqualify us from being a part of God's plan. However, what we see in scripture is a God who uses those very things to prepare us for something He has in store.

We see a God in scripture who does not waste our sin, solitude, or suffering.

In Exodus, we meet a man named Moses who has fled into the desert to escape the consequences of his sin. He meets a man in the desert, marries his daughter, and works for him as a shepherd. He spends, what we would think of as, the best 40 years of his life living in the wilderness doing the same thing every day. His life, it would appear, has been robbed of it's significance as a result of his sin. Yet, it is precisely in this wilderness where he encounters a God who invites him into a bigger story. Moses' sin was not wasted. It was used to bring him to a place where he could encounter God.

In 1 Kings 19, we see a man named Elijah who has fled to the mountains to escape threats to his life. In the wilderness of the mountains God sends storms, winds, and earthquakes, but finally speaks to Elijah in stillness, in solitude, in the quiet. It easy for us to feel alone, isolated, and distant from others, and we can view that solitude as punishment or lack of blessing. However, it is sometimes in that wilderness where we hear God's voice. Elijah solitude was not wasted. It was used to help him hear the voice of God.

In the Gospels, we meet Jesus. Jesus, the Son of God, suffered. He suffered the cross, death, God's wrath against sin, and human pain. However, when praying to the Father about the suffering that was to come he says, "Now what shall I say, 'Father, save me from this suffering?' I came for the purpose of this suffering. 'Father, Glorify Your Name!'" Jesus chose suffering because he knew that God would be glorified in it. In our lives, suffering is the hardest thing to endure. Suffering may cause us to doubt God and His love for us, but the truth is that God is using suffering to pull us closer to Him. Paul says in Philippians 3:10, "I want to know Him, the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings." God does not waste our suffering. It is what he uses to bring us into fellowship with Christ.

God has chosen you for something big. He has chosen you to be a part of an eternal story. He isn't going to waste a second of your life along the way.