Many
people today are sitting on the sidelines of life because they feel that
they’ve passed their prime time. As time goes on, they feel they’ve missed the
opportunity. However, God never put the gifts and dreams in you without having
every intention of bringing them to pass.
If
you’re breathing, you’re a candidate for God’s use. Your whole life is the sum
of the opportunities you have in front of your right now. Don’t die until
you’re dead. If you’ve done nothing with the purpose God put in you, He still
wants to use you. If you made some major mistakes and taken some detours in
life, He still wants to bring out the gifts and talents He deposited in you.
You’re not late. You’ve not missed the mark. God is not finished with you yet!
My
children have cats that they rescued from our neighborhood. We have a plastic
screen in our kitchen door opening up to the backyard. These kitties love to
sit by the door, watch the birds fly around and daydream about catching them. When they were little, they’d often try to
scratch the screen, wanting to get out. My kids would repeatedly tell them how
they should not do that. As they grew older, they became conditioned to the
restrictions. Now they limit themselves to be content just sitting by the door
watching the birds fly around. They can rip apart the plastic screen with their
sharp claws anytime they want. But because they’ve been so conditioned against
it, they just sit there by the door (for which I’m thankful) and allow their
destiny to fly by.
Many
times, we are like these cats. We’ve been told by our friends and loved ones
why we can’t achieve the goals and purposes of our hearts. We look back at the
mistakes we’ve made and disqualify ourselves. Instead of looking forward to
what God has for us, we lick the wounds of what didn’t work out. We think we’ve
lost the window of opportunity.
People
buy into these lies and spend the rest of their lives in regret – looking back.
Truth is, if God was done with you, you wouldn’t still be here. Obviously, God
doesn’t want us to repeat our mistakes. He doesn’t want us to live the same
mediocre life that we once did. However, if we don’t believe that God is not
through with us, then we’ll spend the rest of our lives trying to go forward in
reverse. Don’t bury your gifts and talents,
empty yourself of them.
Every
great man and woman of God had some flaws. Moses was a murderer. David was an
adulterer. Gideon was insecure. Rahab (lineage of Jesus) was a harlot. Elijah
was moody. Ruth was a widower. Isaiah was depressed. Paul was a persecutor of
the Church. Peter was short-tempered. Abraham was old and Lazarus was dead!
Friend, no matter where you fit into this list, your past is not too great for
God to forgive. God is not finished with you. You’re not washed up. You’re not
beyond God’s use. Your best days are still right in front of you. The seeds of
greatness are in you. Rise up, dust yourself off, and start right where you are.
This
is what Joseph did in the Bible. His own brothers threw him in the pit and then
sold him to the merchants. He was falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife and sent
to prison. His fellow prisoner forgot to return the favor but God did not
forget Joseph. The pains of a Christian are all growing pains. When faith is
stretched, it grows. Like Joseph, you’ve gone through the pit and the prison.
Now it’s time for you to take your place in the palace. You will rule over
things that once dominated you. God has every intention of fulfilling the dreams and purposes He put in you. My challenge
to you today is to not die with the dream still inside of you.
Ralph
Waldo Emerson said, “The creation of a
thousand forests is in one acorn.” The future of your God-given destiny is
held in your own belief. You can choose to live the dream or, like our cats,
you can sit and watch your destiny fly by. God
wants to take you from your pit to your palace. You’ve put in all the hard
work; now it’s time for you to enjoy the dividends of your distress. God is not
finished with you. This is your time to rise again!
“Being confident of this, that he who
began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ
Jesus” (Philippians 1:6 NIV).
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