2 Samuel 7:8 “Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel.'”

God’s timing is perfect. Just yesterday, a friend of mine sent me a short video message that said, “When God chose David as king, He didn’t give him a crown, He gave him Goliath.” David was chosen from the most humble of circumstances, the youngest of his brothers, and forged by immense difficulties into the great king of Israel, the progenitor of the Messiah. God chooses different people for different reasons, but none of them are perfect for the task at the time God chooses them. God uses the circumstances of this world, the “trouble” Jesus referred to, (John 16:33) to shape and grow them into what they need to be for His purposes. It’s kind of like a man choosing a sapling, cutting it down, peeling the bark, drying it out, cutting it to length, and making a bow out of it. At the point he found it, that sapling wasn’t much use to anyone, but by the time he was through with it, it was a weapon to be reckoned with. I don’t think a sapling has feelings, but if it did, how do you think it would feel about that process? Our lives are much the same way. How we respond to our circumstances has a great impact on how effective they are in shaping us into what we need to be, and how much emotional suffering we endure in the process. Two people can go through essentially the same circumstances and one come out embittered and miserable, and the other come out peaceful and victorious. That choice is up to us. Going back to David, not all of the choices he made were good, by any means, but his general guiding principle was seeking and following God. That’s the attitude we need to have. In a sense we are all chosen by God, in that He knows us from the moment of our conception, but whether we fulfill all that He has planned for us depends on our submission and obedience to Him.

This is extremely timely, because of recent events in my life. A friend yesterday was very encouraging to me, and I’m grateful. My legacy, my fruit, depends on God, because I certainly can’t generate it in my own strength and wisdom. I have had countless confirmations that God has chosen me for His purposes. Sometimes my choices and actions have run counter to that, but sometimes I have cooperated. I want and need to cooperate fully! God’s plans are better than anything I could dream up, so just as He has told me, I need to rest, relax, and rejoice in Him.

Father, thank You for this reminder, and for all You’ve brought me through, not just recently, but all my life. I want to end up as a vessel You are genuinely pleased with. Everything that doesn’t fit that description, take from me. Everything that does fit that description, polish and strengthen, so that I may be fully useful in Your hands, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!