Subtitled: "Shaken, not stirred."
I often get stirred up by various things. My spirit may stir and move me toward compassion. My emotions may get stirred up and move me toward looking at various aspects of truth or lies in my life...and finding God in the pursuit.
Sometimes my world gets "shaken" up and turned upside down. There are things I don't see coming, and I feel thrown off track or that the rug has been pulled out from under me. I'm facing one of those times now.
I thought of Joseph in the book of Genesis. I thought of how God had a plan to use Joseph in a mighty way. God even gave Joseph a vision when he was young of how God was going to use him. But then we see the jealousy of Joseph's brothers and how they intended to kill him and get him out of the picture by throwing him into a pit to die, but then chose, instead, to sell him into slavery.
Can you imagine God saying, "Oh, man, I didn't see that coming! I guess I'll have to find someone else and figure out another plan. It's hopeless for Joseph."
No way! God is not at all surprised by our circumstances. God certainly saw it coming and knew how to accomplish His plan both THROUGH Joseph and IN Joseph. But it required Joseph trusting God...and Joseph DID trust God. Many times it seemed the rug was pulled out from under Joseph, but God used each instance as a stepping stone toward the destination He intended.
That's the beauty of God. As I'm being shaken, and as I trust God's sovereignty, every time the rug gets pulled out from under me, God will use it as a stepping stone to move me along toward His beautiful destination for me.
