God Is Preparing

Genesis 1:26

Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind.’

I didn’t like having guests at home when I was growing up - and no, it’s not just because I’m introverted (see Tuesday’s devotional). The reason I didn't like it was because their arrival was preceded by a whole list of jobs for me to do. It typically went something like….. 

• Tidy your room (this one really got to me because I knew they’d never see my room)

• Collect stray toys from around the house

• Lay the table

• Bring drinks in from the garage

Before people arrived, a period of preparation ensued.

The creation account in Genesis 1 culminates with the arrival of humankind, but in the preceding verses we see God going to work preparing: Light, Land, Day, Night, Sea, Sky, Crops, Creatures. God spends five ‘days’ creating an environment conducive to human flourishing, and ‘then God said “let us make mankind’” (vs 26) That’s how kind he is. He ensures we have all we need before he allows us to enter the scene. 

Do you ever feel like you are waiting on God in some area of your life? For that Dream Job? The opportunity you’ve been praying for? That relationship? That breakthrough? Waiting can be so discouraging. We can begin to believe God has forgotten us, abandoned us, or worst still doesn’t care. 

But what if God is actually preparing? What If he is busy working behind the scenes creating the environment so that when you enter it you have everything you need to succeed? What if he is preparing you by working on your rough edges so that when you take hold of all he has for you, you are able to sustain and hold on to it?

The Bible says, ‘nothing is impossible for God’: that means the only thing that is impossible is nothing. He is always up to something. Always working for us or in us. God is always preparing. 

Prayer — Thank you that you are always working, that you are for me, that you love me, that you prepare things and me for the moments you have pre-ordained. Help me trust you today in the spaces where I am still waiting.