Opening Prayer: “Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.”
Daily Scripture Reading:
- Genesis 37:28, 36
- Isaiah 30:21
- Zechariah 4:10
A little over a decade ago my husband and I were prophesied over at church. When the words “You will be tremendously blessed in your profession” were spoken to my husband, my heart filled with hope for the first time in years. We had been struggling for a long time and “tremendously blessed” was a far cry from the prayers for mere survival I had been praying. Less than a week later, he was offered a new job out of the blue and we assumed this was it! Tremendous blessing here we come! Imagine our disillusionment when that job quickly went bust! What we didn’t know was that freed up an opportunity we could have never seen coming. Those tremendous blessings have looked a little different than we originally thought but we cannot deny God’s hand. Was that middle, terrible, in-between job a mistake? No! It was just a stepping stone to where God was taking our family.
The Midianite Merchants were just a stepping stone in Joseph’s journey. He probably had no idea where he was going or what was coming next. He might have thought that he would be traveling with them forever. He could have never seen the blessings and opportunities coming down the road.
God has His own GPS system and it very often is different than what our own road map would look like. We want to know exactly where we are going and we prefer the fastest route. In a culture that worships efficiency and lives on instant gratification, we can become disillusioned at the small stepping stones and detours in our journey as well. Today we read in Isaiah 30:21 that no matter if we turn to the right or to the left our ears will here God’s GPS telling us, “this is the way; walk in it.” I think this also means that whether the road turns to the right without our choosing, or unexpectedly detours to the left without warning, we can still find our way to God’s destination for our lives.
Friedrich Nietzsche said, “The essential thing in heaven and in earth is that there should be a long obedience in the same direction.” Like we read in Zechariah, we should not despise the “small things” or the “small beginnings.” All of life is a process. We don’t put our infants in a crib at night and expect self sufficient teenagers in the morning. We don’t come to Jesus one day and expect perfect Christlikeness the next. We don’t receive a dream, a call on our lives, and realize it in the same season. There will be stepping stones. There will be detours. You won’t be traveling with the Midianite Merchants forever. Trust the God’s GPS.
Today’s Big Questions: Do you feel like you are in an in-between season on your journey? Do you feel like the beginnings of the dream have been impossibly small? Are you trusting the stepping stones? Can you identify the places God’s grace has redeemed the detours?
Prayer Response: Ask the Holy Spirit to speak clearly and loudly today, “this is the way; walk in it.” Position yourself to hear God’s GPS and ask Him for perseverance in a life that is marked by “a long obedience in the same direction.”
Optional Action Step: Draw a road map or timeline of your life. Mark the beginning of your journey with Christ and/or a dream He has given you and then significant events, detours, or stepping stones along the way. If possible, note how long between major events and be encouraged that you are still on the right road!
Closing Prayer: “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurable more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” – Ephesians 3:20-21