Many of us feel we’re ready for the things we ask God for in prayer, but are we truly prepared to live up to, put in work for, and follow through with excellency? I would venture to say a lot of us are not. Being ready means completely prepared, in fit condition for immediate action versus being prepared - properly organized and equipped, keyword equipped. Picture a soldier his first day in boot camp: Will he be ready for war that same day or must he go through the necessary training that will prepare him to face a battle? Too often we go into battle without being prepared for the war, thus our defeats.
Training and preparation is necessary in all that we do. It may not look or feel pretty, just know that seasons of preparation serve a greater purpose and that there is no time limit on proper preparation. If you think you’re doing your best, strive for greater. Perfect borrowed analogy: Baking a cake from scratch requires several ingredients: eggs, flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, butter, etc. If handed a cup of flour or a cup of baking powder or raw eggs to ingest on its own, probably doesn’t taste great at all. All these things taken alone may not be good to us but can be good for us when mixed together. Imagine God sees us as a deliciously baked cake. All of our test and trials are the ingredients to a good life He sees for us. He mixes us up until we’re beautifully blended and the end product is something pleasing and acceptable in His eyes. We must go through the mixing and being whipped and put through the fire to come out pleasing and presentable before the Father.
How many times have we missed our blessing because it wasn't perfectly packaged? We expect ready-made blessings with ill-prepared hearts. There's no easy way to receive a fully manifested promise AND we must understand that there are teaching seasons before the manifestation. How we respond in those seasons will determine the fulfillment of the promise. Moral of the story, stop avoiding your blessing because it's wrapped up in work and continue to thank God no matter what season you're in. Each season will have its highs and lows but we gotta trust God through it all and trust the process. Sometimes we don't see how, just relinquish any doubt that God can't and believe that He will. We focus on what works now, God sees the big picture. He sees us as who we will become and knows we can take it. Don't get lost in your day-to-day mishaps. We get so caught up in wishing the season would change before we experience its beauty through life's lessons. Just imagine what happens when we pray our season of preparation away. We simply aren't ready to handle what the blessing requires and will possibly lose the fullness of God’s blessings because we weren't prepared. I promise the process is working for you. It will not always be easy but it will always be worth it.
Allow Christ to do the mixing because each one of our trials is preparing us for something greater. His word is true, "ALL things work together for the good of them who love God and are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 Not our purpose but His. And it doesn't say all good, bad OR ugly things but ALL things – that means everything that happens. We all love quoting Romans 8:28 to serve as comfort and some form of peace when we're going through some things but there's a condition right in the middle of this verse that we tend to overlook. This scripture ain't for everybody but for those who love God. If you don't love Him, you can't claim this promise. It goes on to explain the goal of things working in verse 29, “to be conformed to the image of His son”. Yes, you read that right. The goal of all things working together is for us to be like Christ. Not getting a fat bank account, houses, cars, mates, etc. Don't misunderstand me, wanting these things isn't bad but that's a different verse. Are you being conformed to the image of His son?
In our seasons of preparation, it’s the perfect time to self-evaluate, make improvements because all of us are continuous works in progress and can stand to be better, live better, do better. And since we have no choice but to wait in most cases -- it’s best to wait quietly because all complaining does is tell God that we know better than He. Let God prepare us for what we think we’re ready for and I promise when we step into that new position, that new house, that new car, that new relationship, write that book, or start that business – whatever it may be – you will be ready – completely prepared, in fit condition for immediate action AND prepared – properly organized and equipped to handle your messin’ and your blessings.
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