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Prepared, planted, placed, pruned, prospered (1)
'God planted a garden...there He put the man whom He had formed.' GENESIS 2:8
Before God put Adam into the garden, He 'formed' him. God knows where he wants you (remember yesterday?) and how he wants to use you. Maybe He's told you about it, but now you're frustrated because it's not happening yet. There's a process of preparation God takes us through, but preparation takes time. God must deal with our inconsistencies, personality defects, areas of distrust, and a sackful of other stuff. How long does it take? Only God knows.
The Bible says the Lord 'formed man out of the dust of the ground' (Genesis 2:7 NKJV). What is God working with? Dirt! And the tools He uses to form you are the experiences you go through in life. They shape and alter you. And the more you keep trying to have it your way, the longer the process takes.
It may take you five years to learn to stop people-pleasing, or ten years to stop feeling sorry for yourself, or twenty years to stop going back and reliving your childhood. All the while God is telling you, 'Stop it,' and you're saying, 'Yeah, I know. I'm gonna do better.' Then finally a crisis happens and the truth hits you. You need to change. At that point you say, 'You know what? I'm going to forget those things which are behind and start reaching for those things which are before' (Philippians 3:13). Why wait?
written by Bob Gass
'God planted a garden...there He put the man whom He had formed.' GENESIS 2:8
Before God put Adam into the garden, He 'formed' him. God knows where he wants you (remember yesterday?) and how he wants to use you. Maybe He's told you about it, but now you're frustrated because it's not happening yet. There's a process of preparation God takes us through, but preparation takes time. God must deal with our inconsistencies, personality defects, areas of distrust, and a sackful of other stuff. How long does it take? Only God knows.
The Bible says the Lord 'formed man out of the dust of the ground' (Genesis 2:7 NKJV). What is God working with? Dirt! And the tools He uses to form you are the experiences you go through in life. They shape and alter you. And the more you keep trying to have it your way, the longer the process takes.
It may take you five years to learn to stop people-pleasing, or ten years to stop feeling sorry for yourself, or twenty years to stop going back and reliving your childhood. All the while God is telling you, 'Stop it,' and you're saying, 'Yeah, I know. I'm gonna do better.' Then finally a crisis happens and the truth hits you. You need to change. At that point you say, 'You know what? I'm going to forget those things which are behind and start reaching for those things which are before' (Philippians 3:13). Why wait?
written by Bob Gass
