Isaiah 30:21
"And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying,
This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to
the right hand, and when ye turn to the left."
Paul was Chosen by
God to be His apostle. But he spent
fifteen years on the shelf before he began his first missionary journey. He began his ministry as an "old man," in his late 40's. At the outset of Paul’s ministry, he called
himself a Pharisee, a Hebrew among Hebrews. After sitting in a dark Roman
jail cell, he confessed to young Timothy that he was the "chief of sinners."
Paul wasn’t just placed on the shelf, he was stashed in a dark, hole in
the ground, and the letters he penned in that prison changed the world.
Abraham and Sarah
waited a century for a son, the heir God promised them eons before. One could argue the ancient pair were not
only on the shelf but they were still in touch with God. Even Jesus was a smash at twelve when
he wowed the teachers of the Law in the Temple. He then spent eighteen years
hammering and sanding until He was thirty. Only then, in God’s time, did Christ
step in the Jordan to be baptized by John.
Why does God wait? Why does He
set us aside?
God is not in a hurry to take you off
the shelf. "It takes God one hundred
years to make a mighty oak. He can turn out a squash in six weeks, which do you
want to be?” Sitting on the shelf causes
our self-confidence to die and our God-dependence to grow. We shouldn’t rush
that process. When you are on the shelf,
shut up and listen. In the quiet of God’s dark pantry, His still small voice
may reveal to you His heart in ways you have never known.
When God "shelves" you, He may be shaping you for a different, even more powerful
ministry.
God’s "ripened" servants make the most dynamic impact in the Kingdom. Wait for Him.
Don’t despise the shelf. He knows when you are ready.
Amen!
Reading: (Is. 29:9-14)
(Is. 42:1-9)
Ref: (HG SB)
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry
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