A Past of Preparation

But David persisted, "I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats. When a lion or bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, I go after it... and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the mouth and club it to death... The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!" 1 Samuel 17:34-35,37

David was looking at a man over nine feet tall, wearing a bronze helmet, a bronze coat of mail weighing 125 pounds, bronze leg armor and who carried a bronze javelin on his shoulder. 1 Samuel says that the shaft of Goliath's spear was as thick and heavy as a weaver's beam and tipped with an iron spearhead weighing 15 pounds! Can you imagine how intimidating this guy was? He had the entire Israelite army shaking in their shoes and they had been in countless battles with immeasurable experience! However David, a shepherd boy with no military training chooses to remember God's faithfulness to him in the past and pleads with King Saul to allow him to fight Goliath. As Saul heard the words voiced by David above, he consented and allowed David to fight this dreaded Philistine.

Not only did David recall God's protection and faithfulness as he tended to his flocks and herds, but through these words to Saul he acknowledged that God had been preparing him for this day when he would face Goliath. If David could fight and defeat wild lions and bears, he knew that with God's help he could take down Goliath.

God has called me to women's ministry. I have had a heart for women's ministry for the last ten years and that call was confirmed seven years ago. As I look back over the years, I see how God has placed me in situations of learning and growth. He has eased me into some things while others required a crash course! Just like all of you, I am on a journey of maturation. Sometimes I make good choices, sometimes bad-but ultimately, I am on an adventure with God! I know He has and will use these previous experiences of ministry as I work with so many precious individuals at Circle of Friends and the surrounding communities. I also have experienced things as a youngster and teen that many of you have as well. I come from a family of divorce and dysfunction (whose family isn't dysfunctional in some way?) and because of that and my own foolish choices, there have been some issues. However, God is using those issues and has redeemed much of what Satan has stolen from me. Whether good or bad, rewarding or painful, God is in the business of completing us, refining us and using our past for His glory.

What has God allowed you to experience in your past that you have seen redeemed and fulfilled in your present? Be encouraged today that God is building you into the person He has created and called you to be. He will not fail you, He will not let you go. He is completing the work He has started in you and using your experiences and previous life lessons to shape and strengthen you. Our past may not always be pretty, but God can use it as preparation for what He is calling us to next. God can use our past to defeat the giants of our present.

Sweet Jesus, thank you that nothing that enters my life has not passed through Your hands first. Thank you that when I turn my life- past, present and future- all over to You, you will use it for Your glory and the furthering of Your Kingdom. Amen.

Jocelyn Hamsher