Tags
Beautiful Day, Divine Design, Environment, Esther, fear, Film, God, God's Will, Jesus, overcoming, Perfect Timing, The Holy Spirit
“They’ll probably wonder what the crazy lady is doing down the street,” a colleague said as she laughed. She had just returned from a tour of the northwest. When in the Redwood Forest in California, she purchased a sapling to bring home. She sat at her desk, joking about how fast they grow and what the neighbors might think when its growth takes off. I smiled. That would be a sight in Oklahoma.
Standing next to my neighbors terraced front yard, she sat digging holes to plant some small evergreen-like shrubs before it got any later in the year. I stood retelling this story to her. “I don’t think it will get as big as in California. We don’t have the moisture and temperature like they have there. In order for something to grow to its’ full potential, it has to be brought up in the proper environment.”
Sitting in church, several years back. Probably early 2011. Back at Abundant Life Temple. Pastor Tim stood asking questions: Do you wish you were taller? If you could have picked different parents, would you? Do you wish you had been born in another place? Silence. “If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you are in rebellion to God.” I called him on a night in early October to ask about that sermon. He had its scriptural references committed to memory and recited them to me. “We tell God ‘You made a mistake’ or ‘I shouldn’t be made this way.’ We spend way too much time counseling God on what He did wrong.” His voice was clear on the other end of the phone as he discussed the topic. “God read Job the right act, asking [‘ Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?’ Job 38:4].” And then I am reminded of Jeremiah 1:5: ” Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”
Standing in the cafe at my day job, talking with one of the ladies who runs it, she shared concern about the events coming upon the earth. Standing pleasant, approximately in her early sixties, she was afraid. “You know when I was little and in Sunday School, we would talk about the chip that we will all be asked to take. I’m afraid that’s coming soon. I hope I’m gone by that time,” she laments. Doing my best to encourage her, I offered her some hopeful words about not fearing, then returned to my desk downstairs. Then at my desk I received a word of encouragement for her. Fearing no human, I returned to deliver that word. “God created you for a purpose and even though we may be tempted to be fearful of what is to come, God planted you on this earth at the exact time He needed you. If I had been born ten years earlier or ten years later than I was, my life would be totally different. Ten years before, I wouldn’t be able at this age to do what I’m doing with film. The technology wouldn’t have been there. God put me on this Earth at this specified time to fulfill my purpose. I wouldn’t have been able to fulfill my calling if I had been born at any other time. If you get to fearing the things coming upon the earth, remember Queen Esther: “If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this? [Esther 4:14 NLT].”
This morning at church, my pastor, in his series on The Beauty of Our Imagination, stands teaching on how God will give us the desires of our hearts if we seek Him, and in seeking Him, your desires begin to evolve into His desires for you. “I can imagine all day to be an NFL Football player, but that will not happen. I was not built to be a football player. God created and designed me in my DNA, my nature to match my divine design [to be your pastor].”
Then it all comes together. You are not on this earth by accident from God’s perspective. God knew you, and He gave you a purpose. You were given the height, parents, and birthplace, because God, the Creator of the Universe, made you that way, so that you could seek Him and fulfill your purpose. When you’re in your proper environment, much like the Redwood, you will grow to your fullest potential. And as long as you’re willing, He’s given you all the proper tools for such a time as this.
It’s a beautiful day. Don’t let it get away!” –U2
Sweet Dreams!