God is not impulsive. He doesn’t decide things on the spur of the moment, and there is purpose in everything He does. This week, someone at my church mentioned my possible position in the Millennium Kingdom. It really got me thinking about how God prepared me for my calling in this life and how the things I’m going through now might be preparing me for my position in the next. Then I looked around at my brothers and sisters in Christ and saw that same level of preparation. The Lord has good plans for His children.
Jesus Let Us Know How Things Work
“But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.”
Mark 10:40
In Mark 10:40, Jesus was responding to the two disciples James and John who had just asked to sit at His right and left hand in His kingdom. It was a bold request asking for honor and power in the next life. But Jesus was clear. These things wouldn’t be decided that day by Jesus – or even at some future time. Positions in God’s kingdom had already been determined by God.
I don’t know about you, but that thought has always thrilled me. God is so purposeful that He already knows ahead of time where His people will be in His kingdom. And we can be sure that we won’t be showing up for “work” with no skills or experience. He will get us ready for our future in eternity the same way He equipped us for our calling on earth.
God Set Me Up to Teach
When I was a kid, my favorite game of make-believe was “School.” I was ALWAYS the teacher. At eleven years old, I was making worksheets for my little sister and her friends and grading them. When I would visit my grandparents’ travel agency, I would sit behind an available desk arranging office supplies and wondering if one day I would have a desk of my own.
In high school, I got involved in a program to learn office skills and apply them at a part-time job. I learned how to file and type and used them daily at a local business. When I got to college, my typing skills led me to work part-time at a print shop doing typesetting until a friend got me a job as a word processor with an aerospace company. God wasn’t ready for me to be a teacher just yet, so I got a degree in marketing. After college, I couldn’t find a job in my major so again fell back on typesetting with another printing company. Through those three jobs, I learned to be comfortable with a variety of computer programs and gained skills in design. I use these today in lesson preparation.
In all, I only worked one year after college before I quit to stay at home with my children for about ten years. While home, I worked church daycares that allowed me to bring my kids with me. Later, that would lead me to feel comfortable enough to try substitute teaching in an elementary school and then in junior high. Finally, the confidence I had gained led me to try subbing at the high school level (which had better hours for me). After just a few days, I had this massive feeling of being HOME. Within two months, I was back in college to get the rest of the credits I would need to teach high school. THIS was my calling.
God’s Hand Is on Our Lives
Now that I see the whole picture, I realize that I was built to teach. I had the personality, desire, and temperament from the beginning. The jobs and experiences God led me through purposely set me up to be successful. Of course, God took me the long way around through another major and time at home with my children. But that just meant that I started my first day of teaching in my middle thirties fully equipped for the job I would get – the job He gave me – in His timing.
When you look back over your life, do you see God’s hand? Do you see how the desires and talents you have always had play into your calling? Do you see His leading and preparation to give you just what you need to do the job He has for you on earth?
The Lord Has Good Plans for Us
“His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”
Matthew 25:21
Now think about what you are going through at this moment. What might He be preparing you for in the future? Think about the lessons He is teaching you and the ways He is stretching you, forcing you out of your comfort zone.
We all have tests and trials in this life, and Jesus is with us through them all. We learn lesson after lesson though problems and solutions. Of course, we are all facing vastly different things.
Why do some people experience more sickness and pain? Why are others required to make great earthly sacrifices for the kingdom? How do our finances play into things? Some Christians struggle just to make ends meet. Others have an abundance to share and bless others. Some Christians have one focus in ministry that they perform very well. Others are called to a variety of ministries. Some face public persecution and take damage to follow Jesus. Others seem to sneak in under the radar to the darkest places to shine God’s light.
There will be many positions in God’s eternal kingdom, and each one will need a different set of skills. Some may require more compassion, some more drive or perseverance, and others more diplomacy. We don’t know exactly what jobs will be available yet, but we do know that God wastes nothing. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” Our unique circumstances and experiences in this life will get us ready to serve God in the Millennial Kingdom and beyond.
Be Encouraged
“But as it is written, ‘Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.’”
1 Corinthians 2:9
Like you, I can’t even imagine the position God might have for me in the future. But I do know that my job will be perfect for me, and I will be perfectly prepared for it. It gives me great encouragement to know that the lessons and trials I’m facing now have purpose and that “God has good plans for me.” (The song below was my inspiration for the title of this blog.)
If you need more encouragement, try, I Am That I Am Is Everything We Need. Or, try Instead of Fear, Choose Faith in God’s Promises. Please sign up to receive my blog in your email. Also, check out my YouTube Channel where I read the blogs out loud. I also have a playlist of hymns from my church.
Angie, thank you for this Word for Today! It is the first time I have heard of this concept & yet it makes so much sense. Looking back down through the years, I can see that I wasted them. Actually the thought is sticking in my mind that I was like the man with the one talent who buried it in the ground; so now I only have a few short years or maybe less to redeem the time I wasted.
Somehow I think there are many more like myself who also needed to read this today. It also coincided with my daily devotion from In Green Pastures & so a word in due season that opened my eyes to what the Rev. James Russell Miller was getting at when he wrote his little thought for the day…
Discipline of Drudgery.
There is nothing like life’s drudgery to make men and women of us. You chafe under it; you sigh for leisure, to be freed from bondage to hours, to duties, to tasks, to appointments, to rules, to the treadmill round.
Yet this is God’s school for you. It may be a cross, Yes; but all true blessing comes to us hidden under the ruggedness and the heaviness of a cross. We do no grow most in the easiest life. Accept your treadmill round, you plodding, your dull task-work, and do all well – do always your best – and you will grow into strong noble character.
Blessings, Louise B.
Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to the things ahead. One of the very best things about God is that He doesn’t beat us over the head with the past. He says “Leave it” and walks with us into the future. “All true blessings come to us under the ruggedness and heaviness of a cross.” Amen! May we all grow strong to our true potential. Thanks so much for the blessing you are to me, Sister!
Louise you have blessed me by your comments. I found John Little, Brooke, Tony and Joannie from reading your comments a few years back. I have always felt there is much life going on in social media comments and I knew I could trust the people you liked because I could tell you are a rock solid Christian! Thank you for blessing me I’m glad I am finally getting an opportunity to let you know
Fantastic piece of writing! It’s so important to remember that there is a bigger picture when we are waiting for that one small piece of the puzzle! 🙏
That is a great analogy! Thanks so much for your comment. Blessings to you and yours!