Preparation and What’s Next

I haven’t seen in Scripture that David, at the campfire on the end of the day on which he survived fighting a bear with no weapon in hand, thanked Yahweh for preparing him for a future fight against an asinine giant. I don’t think he recognized the value of the fight beyond that of the lives of the sheep who also lived through it.

In Acts 16, Paul encountered a jailer who was an unbeliever. He was accustomed to taking care of people in jail. It is easy to guess in the culture that he served, that some of his “care” for his prisoners was brutal or merciless. When he encountered the power of the Spirit of God, and then the invitation of Jesus to come to Him through Paul’s answer to his famous question, “What must I do to be saved?”, he immediately began to serve Paul and Silas by cleaning the wounds they had received when they were stripped and beaten with rods. Then he fed them in his home.

I see the gift and the work of pastor budding in the heart of the jailer in this part of his story. Perhaps some of what you went through as a child or young adult seems to be valueless or even costly pain. Some of your life may have been spent abusing someone else or being negligent toward others’ needs around you.  How much of what you have been prepared for will be proven to make you more fruitful today?

How much of what seems to “go wrong” today will be preparation for tomorrow’s asinine giant, behind whom is hidden your real work – your real purpose?