Small beginnings

"If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer..." - Matthew 21:22

Here's a little something from my devotional tonight...

No matter what our situation, before we are ready to minister, we must learn to be faithful and diligent at whatever is at hand in our lives right now. As we yield our expectations and demands and find contentment in God's love for us, He will begin to send opportunities for us to minister to others. We must not despise the days of "small beginnings." He is not in a hurry. We must not become impatient and let our spiritual vision outstrip our emotional growth.
It is so critical that we grasp the significance of the seasons of our lives, the different periods during which God is building character! No matter how clearly we visualize the dreams for ministiry, without the graceful bowing to self-denial and a deepened sense of our own need for Christ, which teaches us to forgive, without learning to say we are sorry to those with whom we live, there is no true ministry.
Oh, we may run about doing amazing things in the name of ministry, but we will not find God in any of our efforts. No eternal effect comes without the catalyst of character, and character is built by godly responses to the things at hand.
Faithfulness constitutes the fabric that must be woven into our own lives as we are dressed to carry the cross to the world. And faithfulness to those closest to us - our parents, husbands, children and friends - will be the garment that protects our hearts in the battlefield.

-Joyce Strong

Lord, teach me to wait on You and help me to appreciate the day of small beginnings... Sometimes in life we forget the great plans You have for us. But with patience and faithfulness in prayer, you never fail to provide and remind us of how much You love us. Thank you Lord.