Jeremiah 29:11 ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.’
- DAILY READING – James 3; Jeremiah 25-26; Psalm 131
IN THE AFRICAN savanna, the strong animals will survive, and the rest may become meals for hungry predators. The birth of a giraffe brings this reality into view. Giraffe mothers are pregnant for about 15 months. This long gestation period is necessary to allow the calves to become highly developed in the safety of their mother’s womb.
Once the calf is born it falls from its mother’s womb, some eight feet above the ground. It shrivels up and lies still, too weak to move. The mother giraffe lovingly lowers her neck to smooch the baby giraffe. And then something incredible happens. She lifts her long leg and kicks the baby giraffe, sending it flying up in the air and tumbling down on the ground. As the baby lies curled up, the mother kicks the baby again. And again. Until the baby giraffe, still trembling and tired, pushes its limbs and for the first time learns to stand on its feet.
Happy to see the baby standing on its own feet, the mother giraffe comes over and gives it yet another kick. The baby giraffe falls one more time, but now quickly recovers and stands up. Mama Giraffe is delighted. She knows that her baby has learnt an important lesson: Never mind how hard you fall, always remember to pick yourself up and get back on your feet.
Why does the mother giraffe do this? She knows that lions and leopards love giraffe meat. Death rates for newborn giraffes can be 50 percent or more in areas with high predator densities. So unless the baby giraffe quickly learns to stand and run with the pack – it will have no chance of survival.
Yes, kicking the baby up and down seems like a strange way to show love, but for a mother giraffe it is the ultimate expression of love as she prepares her baby for the kind of world he would face, a world where his survival depended greatly on his swiftness.
1 Peter 4:12-19 says ‘Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy’
God uses the challenges and trials that come our way to prepare us for where He is taking us to. If adversities come, realize that God uses such experiences to refine and train you. Storms do not come to break you, but rather to make you. When faced with challenges ask yourself what God’s will and purpose is. God does not bring temptations to us, but even when the enemy does, God uses those experiences to refine us and make us better.
In Isaiah 48:10 God says ‘Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.’
Whatever comes our way, God always causes all things to work together for our good. In Jeremiah 29:11 God says ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.’
Indeed God has an expected end in mind for us. That end is glory. Therefore we must learn to align our thoughts to His. Challenges only come to make us stronger to prepare us for the heights we are destined to attain. Adversity pushes us to accelerate the development of our greatest potential. So if challenges come, see them as opportunities for rising, trusting That God is too faithful to allow you to be tempted more than you are able to handle. See them as times to praise God, because He is about to raise you. And as you praise, God will indeed cause you to ride upon your high places.
PRAYER: Lord, please help me to learn the things you are teaching me today, so that I can be prepared to ascend the throne you have prepared for me tomorrow. Thank You Lord for causing all things to work together for my good in Jesus Name. . .
QUOTE
God is preparing you for the season He prepared your breakthrough. – WORDBITE 222