When reading the Bible we see a large collection of amazing acts of faith, encounters with God, victories over giants, pharaohs, and great armies. Within a few chapters in the Book of Genesis Abraham has many God moments. He receives instructions to leave his homeland. He is told he would have a child at a late age. He encounters God on a mountain and is encouraged with a blessing that is still in effect thousands of years later. He has God come upon him and his servants as they take on an army that took his nephew Lot captive. He has an angelic encounter as he offers Isaac his son as a sacrifice.
When we read all that in a span of a half an hour we tend to think that Abraham’s life was full of God moments. That every day Abraham had lunch with angels and spoke with God face to face. And that can give us some false expectations of how following Christ works.
Abraham lived to be 175 years old. So the account of his life in Genesis only accounts for a tiny fraction of his actual days. What can we learn? That the majority of Abraham’s life was spent doing everyday type of things. He had to manage his business. Raise his kids (and that caused some issues). Deal with the good days and bad days of marriage. The fact is that the majority of Abraham’s life is not recorded in the Bible.
We see similar things with David, Moses, and Paul. They received a heavenly calling that was very powerful. David was anointed by Samuel. Moses was called at a burning bush. Paul was knocked to the ground by a blinding light on the road to Damascus. And as powerful as those calls were, they did not happen overnight. David waited 13 years before he saw the call come to pass. Moses waited 40 years on the backside of a desert. Paul was not heard of again for 14 years after his calling.
All these men had amazing God encounters and did great exploits. But all of them had seasons where no one knew them. Where they did not experience God in a supernatural tangible way. Where they just had to go through life one day at a time with no spectacular manifestations.
But those were the very days and years that God used to shape them. To mold them. To deepen their roots, enlarge their faith, and solidify their vision and calling. Those years of insignificance were very significant. I’m sure they were bored at times. They longed for those great and powerful victories. But instead found themselves tending sheep, being faithful over someone else’s vision, or just going to work everyday to make a living.
So in your life I pray you are encouraged. God does use the seasons in our life that seem to be quiet or insignificant. God uses those seasons that seem to be boring to be a great blessing. Those are the times God will do a work in you that you might not even be able to see with your natural eyes at the time. But then the time will come and you will demonstrate to the world that God is with you and you are anointed. And when you are standing triumphant you look back at those insignificant times and realize they were absolutely ordained of God for your good.
Love,
Pastor Matt Nichols
