Good things need preparation!

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have everything you want right now?  Have you ever been impatient and wanted a job, a house, or a situation to magically come into being immediately?  Although God shows us his power to work immediate miracles in the Bible, He also takes his time working everything together toward His greater good.

For example, we read in Mark 2: 1-12 about a man being lowered through the roof for healing.  Jesus tells him his sins are forgiven, and to get up and walk.  God can certainly heal people in a very fast manner, and seemingly on a whim.  However, we as readers are often unaware of the behind the scenes preparations that go into such miracles.  We can only read what is written, but we might suppose that some forethought had to happen to get those men together in the first place.  After all, they were friends with the paralyzed man, and who knows how long they were hanging out together?  We cannot know, but we can suppose that it didn't take merely a minute, or  hour, or even a day to bring about this miracle.  These men had to form a friendship, hear about Jesus, form some faith, and then plan to get together and bring their friend to see Jesus.  I'm guessing it didn't happen overnight.

When I was asking God what He wanted to teach me today through His Word, I heard a little voice in the corner of my mind saying "One thing at a time."  Then, as I started going through Luke 1, it hit me!  There were intricate preperations for Jesus' birth.  I know that Jesus' birth was no quick healing, and that it is profoundly more important than we can even fathom to comprehend in a lifetime; but it is still a work of God just like many more works of God found in the Bible and in our own lives as believers.  And, I believe the one commonality is that God prepares for good things.  

In Luke 1:1-12, the Bible says that God prepared the way for Jesus by helping Zechariah and Elizabeth conceive a son, who would be John the Baptist.  Then, he prepared Zechariah by telling him (through the angel) that John would prepare the people for the coming of Jesus.  After that, he prepared both Mary and Joseph for the coming of the Savior.  

So many preparation went into Jesus' birth, and so much preparation happens in our lives as well.  Just as we may not always see the back story in the Bible, sometimes we cannot see how we are being prepared in our own lives for God's greater good.  One example of this is happening in my own life right now.  Currently I am without a full time job and we are in debt up to our earlobes in school loans.  Sometimes we don't see how we are going to pay our bills and eat, but God has always provided a way.  Even when some of the things that happen seem scary or hard, God is preparing our lives for something better.  I know this because Romans 8:28 says,   "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."  

Sometimes we get fearful of the future and we want a miracle to happen immediately.  I am definitely guilty of this.  Yet, we must always be aware that our lives are preparations for something better.  I know I love the Lord and I've been called to serve Him.  Because I know this, I can also know that He is working constantly for my good.  It might not always be what I want, but I know that it's what I need at the time.  

So, after all that, Peace to you today.  May you know that by the Grace of God, He is working everything toward the greater good and making preparations in your life.