Certainly, God was planning to give a full cup to the apostle Paul. But before He did, He led Paul into the desert of Arabia for a time. (Read Galatians 1:17) I'm not sure what all happened there, but I can pretty much assume that it was this place that Paul drew closer to the Lord in fellowship and communion. His teaching became much more refined after this as we see later when Paul writes the New Testament epistles.
Isn't this typical of what God does when He has a greater mission for people. Often times, we go thru a valley first. We see it as a valley, while God sees it as preparation time for something greater. Look at Joseph, he was used greatly in the house of Potiphar, but then he was sent to prison for 2 long years. Moses had 40 years of training in the wilderness before he led the children of Israel out of Egypt.
We see example after example of how God used people in a great way, but often times it was after a time of training and preparation. What we see as "wasted" time, God only sees as "preparation" time. God was preparing all of these great men in the Bible for what was ahead for them. He will do the same for us.
One thing is for certain. When we go through the desert of hardship...God will use it and use us to be more effective in our ministry. He is refining us, teaching us and preparing us for something great.
HEBREWS 12:7 "As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as His own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father?" (NLT)
When you think about the trials and hardships that God has taken you thru, what purpose do you see in them? Do you even see a purpose? Just remember, you can never be too small for God to use. We are all destined for something great!
Love this post! Very encouraging :)
ReplyDeleteI think it is in the hard things that we go through that God shines the brightest. Thanks for your post today. Good stuff.
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