DAY 29

PREPARATION FOR PURPOSE

NIKKI CATHERINCCHIA, TEACHING PASTOR

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. —Romans 8:28

Have you ever been in a season where you’ve wondered what in the world am I doing? What is my purpose? Maybe you’re new to your journey with Jesus or maybe the season of your life has changed and you’re just not sure what to do next. Maybe you have even stepped out in faith, obedient to what you think God is calling you to, yet nothing is happening. This is the land in between. The time between one significant moment in our lives with Jesus and the next. It is a time that can often leave us questioning. Not necessarily a crisis of faith, but a true bewilderment about the pathway forward or what the next season will even look like.

Several years ago I was at a conference, and my mentor from afar, Christine Caine, talked about the life of King David. I’ll never forget the illustration she used. In a very loose paraphrase she proclaimed that we are a shoot and upload society. Meaning in the day and age of social media, we now take pictures and immediately post them to the social platform or platforms of our choice. We no longer have to wait; we get immediate results. However, that is not how God rolls. Our God, as Christine said, I can call her Christine because while she may not know it, we are friends. Sorry, enough of my fangirl moment. As I was saying, Christine Caine stated that our God is more like a 35mm God. For those of you who remember old school photography and everyone else interested in vintage photography, 35mm was the type of film we once used to take pictures. With a 35mm camera you would take pictures, but then the film would have to be processed. Essentially, the film would be transferred from the camera to a darkroom where the negative was developed to become the picture the photographer intended it to be. THIS is how our God operates. In King David’s life He snapped a picture when David was just a shepherd boy, a picture with the promise that upon development David would be the king over God’s people. However, it took 20 years from the time that David was anointed king to David actually becoming king. This can be called David’s darkroom experience. It was in this time that David fought off the lion and the bear, faced Goliath, served King Saul faithfully, developed a deep friendship with Jonathan, was celebrated by the people, and ultimately became a fugitive hunted down by the very same king he had served. I have to imagine at some point as David was hiding out in a cave, that he must have thought, “Why did You anoint me king, God, if this was going to happen?” Or maybe he thought, “I don’t understand Your will or Your timing God.” Yet, it is here, in the darkroom experience, that God was molding and shaping David, developing him and preparing him for all that God had prepared for him to do. You see David doesn’t become the great king we all read about without the darkroom experience. That is where God prepared him to be propelled into his Kingdom purpose. David trusted God, and God proved that all things work together for His purposes.

When we begin to understand that God is the same today as He was yesterday as He will be tomorrow, we will know that just as God was a 35mm God with King David, He is also a 35mm God with us. The moment we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, the picture is taken. The image of our purpose in the Kingdom of God is captured. Then throughout our faith journey God takes us into the darkroom where He molds and shapes us, developing and preparing us for what He has prepared for us to do. This is a truth I know all too well. I didn’t just wake up one morning thinking, “I think I’ll be a pastor one day.” NOT AT ALL!!! When I first came to Christ, God took the picture. A picture that told the truth found in Ephesians; I was God’s masterpiece created to do the good things He planned for me long ago. I had no idea what that even meant let alone what it would look like. For 18 years I was in the darkroom. God used years of floundering in my faith, my son’s autism, my daughter’s death, and my battle with fear and anxiety to mold and shape me. He was using all these experiences to develop and prepare me for what He had prepared for me to do. Not a single season of waiting, not a moment of struggle, nor the ache and pain of my broken heart went to waste. I chose to trust God, and He used it all to propel me into my Kingdom purpose.

Do you know that you have a Kingdom purpose? Before the world began, God took a picture of His Kingdom, and you were in it. He has a plan and purpose for you. Covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, you are a perfect fit for His Kingdom plan. Even if you are in a season of waiting or uncertainty, you can be certain that God is preparing you for what He has prepared for you to do. The key to the darkroom experience is prayer. You see, what sustained David in his years in the darkroom was his intimacy with God. What sustained me through my years in the darkroom was my intimacy with God. Interestingly enough, when I entered the darkroom, my intimacy with God was minimal. I was still checking off boxes in my faith journey. Go to church... check. Pray before meals... check. Occasional Bible study... check. However, the more I pursued God the more our intimacy grew. The more our intimacy grew the less it became about checking boxes off and the more it became about simply spending time with the God I love. And in it all I was becoming who He created me to be, even though I had no idea what that would fully look like. Through my ever increasing times of prayer, I learned to know the still, soft voice of God, and He began to propel me into His purpose. God desires the exact same thing for you. Today as you reflect on where you are and where you have been, trace God’s handprint in your life. See how He has used and is using all your experiences to mold and shape you into who He has created you to be. Praise the One who does indeed work everything out for His will and purposes.

PRAYER

Dear Heavenly Father, today I praise You for who You are, the God who was thinking of me when You created the world. The God who has given purpose and meaning to my life. Father, I see Your handprint all over my life, and I am thankful. Even in the painful and hard seasons, even though I may have to wait upon You, I trust that Your ways, Your timing, and Your plans work all things out according to Your purposes. Thank You for allowing me to be a part of Your Kingdom.