Bloom Where You're Planted
Are you in an uncomfortable season, wanting your life to be different and finding the wait difficult? Friend, I hope you can be encouraged in the comfort that you are exactly where you need to be!
God Sees You Where You Are
Genesis 16 tells the story of Hagar, a rejected concubine with a son to support. Sarah, her own husband's first wife treated her abominably, and there seemed to be no alternative but flee to the wilderness to die. But God showed up and comforted her; He had plans for Hagar and Ishmael, her son. God showed compassion and pity for her plight, assuring her of her value to Him. Hagar, a slave woman was the first to ascribe a name to God: The God Who Sees. God sees you, too, and values you!
The End is Not Yet
The book of Ruth shows us how God turned hopelessness into praise for Naomi, a widow who lost her two sons. Naomi's despair was so great, she changed her name to "Marah", symbolizing the engulfing, overwhelming bitterness of life. She and her loyal daughter-in-law, Ruth, traveled back to Bethlehem where they found grace with their kinsman Boaz. God used these three individuals to proclaim His salvation through Jesus, who descended from this new nuclear family: Boaz and Ruth, plus Naomi who invested in her "grandson" Obed.
God is Preparing You Now for Later
In order for you to be and do what God created you for, NOW is necessary. We are all on a journey in which God makes us more like Jesus, but it's not a leap; there are no shortcuts. We must take one step at a time, one day at a time. We have everything we need for today, and when tomorrow gets here, there will be new mercy all over again (Lamentations 3:22-23). God is faithful. He is the One who is calling you into closer relationship with Him, and He is the One responsible for completing His refining work (1 Thessalonians 5:24).
*******
As I look back over more than five decades, I can see that each difficult season prepared me for now, and now is preparing me for the future. I've learned that I can bloom NOW: I don't have to wait for it! I'm not perfect, but I can surely flourish and thrive right now, right here, because God is with me doing the work! He has great plans for you, too, and is always up to something good in your life.
Bloom!
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
~Galatians 6:9
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©2022 Julianne Knapp. First published 9.27.22
God Sees You Where You Are
Genesis 16 tells the story of Hagar, a rejected concubine with a son to support. Sarah, her own husband's first wife treated her abominably, and there seemed to be no alternative but flee to the wilderness to die. But God showed up and comforted her; He had plans for Hagar and Ishmael, her son. God showed compassion and pity for her plight, assuring her of her value to Him. Hagar, a slave woman was the first to ascribe a name to God: The God Who Sees. God sees you, too, and values you!
The End is Not Yet
The book of Ruth shows us how God turned hopelessness into praise for Naomi, a widow who lost her two sons. Naomi's despair was so great, she changed her name to "Marah", symbolizing the engulfing, overwhelming bitterness of life. She and her loyal daughter-in-law, Ruth, traveled back to Bethlehem where they found grace with their kinsman Boaz. God used these three individuals to proclaim His salvation through Jesus, who descended from this new nuclear family: Boaz and Ruth, plus Naomi who invested in her "grandson" Obed.
God is Preparing You Now for Later
In order for you to be and do what God created you for, NOW is necessary. We are all on a journey in which God makes us more like Jesus, but it's not a leap; there are no shortcuts. We must take one step at a time, one day at a time. We have everything we need for today, and when tomorrow gets here, there will be new mercy all over again (Lamentations 3:22-23). God is faithful. He is the One who is calling you into closer relationship with Him, and He is the One responsible for completing His refining work (1 Thessalonians 5:24).
*******
As I look back over more than five decades, I can see that each difficult season prepared me for now, and now is preparing me for the future. I've learned that I can bloom NOW: I don't have to wait for it! I'm not perfect, but I can surely flourish and thrive right now, right here, because God is with me doing the work! He has great plans for you, too, and is always up to something good in your life.
Bloom!
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
~Galatians 6:9
Subscribe to free weekly articles in your inbox HERE; your information will never be shared. :-)
©2022 Julianne Knapp. First published 9.27.22