RIGHT HERE AND NOW

SCRIPTURE: Job 35-36; 1 Cor. 7-8

Job 36:16-21
“Oh, Job, don’t you see how God’s wooing you
from the jaws of danger?
How he’s drawing you into wide-open places—
inviting you to feast at a table laden with blessings?
And here you are laden with the guilt of the wicked,
obsessed with putting the blame on God!

1 Corinthians 8:17a
And don’t be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God’s place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there.

OBSERVATIONS: Right here, right now is where you are. You have opportunity in the place where you find yourself. God often takes us from where we want to be in order to provide greater blessings. The danger is in decrying the former opportunities as sour grapes or a wasted season.

APPLICATION: Joey, you don’t have a clue what I have in mind for you. There’s not a map or a book that you can reference. You can’t guess ahead. You can’t second-guess behind. There is more to where you are than where you are not. Where you are right now is always My place for you — not because it is predestined, but because the response to the circumstances is always more important than the turn of events. LIVE, OBEY, LOVE, and BELIEVE RIGHT HERE.

PRAYER: God, I am trying. I will try harder. Your grace is already on the way, in play, and at work. Open my eyes to see it. Amen.