Are you where He wants you?

(from the KLOVE devotional publication: "On the Right Note")

A Mist or an Outpouring?

"The Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground." - Genesis 2:5

At the beginning of creation God caused a mist to come up from the earth and water the ground. Up until that time there had been no downpour from the heavens. Why? Because "there was not a man to till the ground." There's a lesson here: there are some things God has planned to do, made provision for doing and desires to do - that He will not do until we get into the place where we can receive what He longs to give.

The blessing is there, safe in God's keeping. The need is there, persistent in its pain and suffering. But the blessing won't be applied until our hearts are in a position for God to act. Oh, you may be experiencing a "mist," in your spirit, but you konw God has something more for you! You have an uneasiness, a frustration that causes you to say, "Why am I no further along?" Rather than blaming the people in your life or the circumstances around you, you need to pause, look up and ask: "Lord, are You waiting for me to get into the right place?" When you ask that question be prepared to hear His answer and obey it, even if it means rearranging your priorities, leaving your comfort zone, breaking old habit patterns, and paying the price to have what God wants you to have. What does He want you to have? Not a mist, but an outpouring of His blessing!

Pleasing the Father

"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." - Matthew 3:17

When Jesus stepped into the River Jordan to be baptized byJohn, He was stepping into the fullness of God's purpose for His life. Ever stopped to think that when Jesus walked into those waters they were teeming with the sins of mankind? John had baptized multitudes there, their sins figuratively passing from them inot the sea of God's forgetfulness just as the waters of the Jordan end up in the Dead Sea.

Now you might think: "How awful! Jesus is wading into sin." But Jesus was doing so to fulfill the purpose of God - redemption for you and me. Jesus was exactly where God wanted Him to be, doing precisely what God wanted Him to do. That's why heaven announced, "This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased."

Don't expect God to speak up for you or cause others to see you for who you really are, until you're willing to step into the place He's clled you to. And that may mean stepping into some muddy waters! But when you do you won't have to speak up for yourself, fight for yourself or demand anything of others. God will command whatever forces are involved to yield to you, give to you, honor you, listen to you and obey you. You won't have to grope for the right answer or wonder if something's right or wrong for you. God will giveyou the ability and resources you need. Why? Because you're where He wants you to be, doing what He wants you to do!

My own comments: Have you been getting a taste of what God might have in store for you? Has God been lighting a spark in your life that is just waiting to be a flame - waiting on you to be where God wants you? Is there something that you've been resisting in your life because of the fear of change, or of not wanting to be uncomforable?

Don't let that fear quench the fire. Where does God want you? Just ask Him, He will show you.