Prepared

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What To Expect…

When I was pregnant with my first child, I did everything I could to prepare myself. I read, “What To Expect When You Are Expecting.” Every day I watched an episode of “A Baby Story,” on TLC, and I took prenatal classes. I did all I could to get myself ready for this exciting event.

I was excited when I went into labor two weeks early. I remember thinking I knew everything that would happen because of all my preparations, but then, after eleven hours of labor, when it was time to push, I said, “Oh, so I have about ten more minutes of this?” The nurse giggled (I can hear all of you who have given birth giggling) and asked where I had come up with that estimation. I told her the woman on TV delivered in ten minutes and she thought that was hysterical. Fifty-four agonizing minutes later, I had my sweet baby girl in my arms.

No matter how much I read or watched, nothing could have prepared me for that moment other than actually going through it. With my next two children, everything was different because I was more prepared through experience.

God Prepares Mary

One of my favorite biblical birth stories is that of John the Baptist. Mary had just received a message from the angel Gabriel that she would become pregnant and that her relative, Elizabeth, was also with child. She went to be with Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. When Mary arrived, the baby in Elizabeth’s womb, already filled with the Holy Spirit, lept with joy.

"When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy.” Luke 1:44 NLT Click To Tweet

“A few days later, Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, ‘God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy.’”

Luke 1:39-44 NLT

My favorite part about this story is that God knew Mary would be alone with Joseph when she would deliver Jesus. He knew she would not have her mother, a midwife, or friend. He knew she would be in a stable amongst the animals, who would probably watch in utter curiosity. So God prepared Mary beforehand to know what to expect when the time came.

It always humbles me to think that God is in the minute details. He knows what is ahead, and He prepares us more than we could ever try to do on our own.

John Prepares The Way For Jesus

“The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way” — “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”

And so John, who became known as the baptist, appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Mark 1: 1-8 NIV

Just as God prepared Mary before her time to deliver, He also prepared the people for the coming of Christ. John came first as a “voice of one calling in the wilderness.” He said, “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.”

Both Malachi and Isaiah prophesied of John the baptist coming. John came as a living example of the gospel’s teaching. He lived humbly and taught of repentance and forgiveness of sin. He taught the people to prepare the hearts for the one who was coming to live this out completely.

God Prepares Us

God also prepares us for what is coming. Can you look back over your life and see where God prepared you for something even before you knew what was coming? Before my diagnosis with Lyme Disease, I had the privilege of meeting Syrian refugees and hearing their stories. Nothing I have ever endured compares to what they went through under the oppression of terrorist.

"Meeting them taught me not to ask “why God” when things don’t go as planned but to ask, 'What are we going to do with this” and “How will this bring You glory?'” Click To Tweet

Meeting them taught me not to ask “why God” when things don’t go as planned but to ask, “What are we going to do with this” and “How will this bring You glory?” I needed this change of perspective before going through the most challenging season of my life.

When we wait, how can we prepare? For me, I find spending more time in the word and in prayer is best. When I draw closer to Him, I can discern His direction more clearly and I find peace and rest in the waiting.

What are you waiting for? How can you draw closer to God to seek His direction and find peace in the waiting?

God Prepares Us In The Waiting

One more example of this is that God has placed a burden on our hearts to start a ranch to help kids struggling with depression and anxiety. Read more about that here in “Do Dreams Come True?“. God placed the spark in my heart three years ago, but has not yet let this come to fruition.

In the process of waiting, He has drawn me closer through His word. He led my husband and me to a similar ranch to learn and reignite this passion within us. He has given me a job in two high schools to see the needs and how to approach beginning the ranch. And more importantly, He has shown us how to make sure it is His and not ours.

We can learn much in the waiting, but often in our frustration of waiting, we miss the glorious moments with Him. Much like the Jews missed Jesus. As I asked you last week to come open to God-sized expectancy, I now want to encourage you to be open to how God is preparing you in the waiting.

Before you go… Take a look at my Scripture Memorization images.