Water Me

Next week I’m hitting a milestone of sorts…the one-year mark since law school graduation.

It doesn’t seem that much time has passed—I guess because it’s only been about six months since the strings that come with graduating have been cut completely:); praise God!

Trite as it may sound, this last year has gotten me thinking about life’s seasons. The famous Ecclesiastes passage on the stages of life, chapter 3:1-8, begins: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” The passage lists many seasons, among them birth and death; tearing down and building.

I don’t really want to characterize this phase of my life based on that passage, but I will say that I’m in a different season than I was last year. I’m around different places and people, and I have some different desires—and that’s just a few of the differences.

What I’m learning through these changes is to be happy where God has placed me yet to push for growth. A few months ago I finished this amazing, timely study called “Experiencing God.” The concepts in it were simple and somewhat familiar—yet profound.

One of the most striking lessons for me was that God always puts me exactly where I need to be at that moment—even if I may not understand why I’m there. It may be to prepare me for a big, God-sized task that can only be accomplished as I commit to obedience, which brings the growth necessary for God to accomplish His full purpose in my life. An example was God’s work in the life of His disciple Peter. While on earth, Jesus revealed He would use Peter to build the early Church (which came true in Acts, after Jesus’ ascension). But Jesus also knew that Peter was not yet ready for the task; first, He had to grow Peter.

One day Peter declared to Jesus that he was ready to follow Him anywhere. Jesus said Peter wasn't, and that he would deny Jesus three times. And, as you probably know, shortly before Jesus was crucified, Peter did deny knowing Him three times when asked. After that, the Bible says Peter wept bitterly.

But, of course, Jesus didn’t leave him there. Shortly after His resurrection, Jesus “reinstated” Peter, giving Him a command to “feed His sheep”—teach others about Christ, as he had been taught. In Acts and the New Testament books following we see evidence of the ways God used Peter to share The Gospel with people from many different nations, transforming the world—and Peter—in the process (for example, Acts 10). As Peter obeyed God, he experienced a plan for his life that has been documented in The Guide He's given us. That’s divine.

I want to be ready for what God has for me in the future, so I’m “living in the moment.” I’m learning to stay closer to Him constantly, give my desires to Him and do what He tells me to—even the things that don’t make sense at the time.

I’m seeing this season is a chance for God to water—refine— me. And through His faithfulness, I’m experiencing the life He has for me.