Prepare!

“A voice of one calling: ‘In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. – Isaiah 40:3

“In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.  This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: 'A voice of one calling in the desert, Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ – Matthew 3:1-3

“It is written in Isaiah the prophet: I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way – a voice of one falling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” – Mark 1:2-3

“As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: ‘A voice of one calling in the desert, Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” – Luke 3:4-5

“John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” – John 1:23

Isaiah foretold it and every Gospel in the New Testament repeated it – PREPARE!  Prepare for what?  The way for the Lord!!  Without doubt, no matter the task, with no concern of where you are sent, what you are asked to say or do or not say and do.  Easier said than done, huh?  How many of us can honestly say we are completely, 100% prepared?

Noah was prepared for the rain even though the place he lived was plagued with drought, why?  Because God told him to be prepared!  He was ridiculed and made a laughing stalk, but he did not let the opinion of others deter him from fulfilling what God had called him to complete.  In the movie Facing the Giants the main character is told the following parable from an elderly Christian man:

Two farmers in the face of a drought began praying for rain.  One farmer continued tilling, planting, fertilizing the land, preparing his fields for a harvest while the other farmer continued to pray, but did nothing to his fields.  Which farmer trusted the Lord to answer his prayer?  Which farmer received God’s blessing?

Moral to the parable?  You have to prepare your fields if you want to receive the blessing God has for you AND you have to trust the Lord to answer your prayers even in the face of a drought.  Christians face spiritual drought from time to time just like farmers face physical drought.  There are seasons in our lives when we feel like God is not with us, that He is not answering our prayers, times of loneliness from the Holy Spirit.  During these times, God has not left us, He is preparing us for a future blessing.  Maybe our season of drought is the ridicule we face from non-believers for “building our ark.”  God has not left us, He is preparing us for the flood we cannot see.

Just like Amanda Dalton said in her message on Sunday, an Olympic runner preparing for a race does not just wake up the morning of the race and decide to run.  There are months and years of preparation involved.  Training schedules of running & cross-training, weight control and nutrition programs and most of all determination.   But as a spectator on race day, all we see are the runners performing, the preparation each runner does is done alone. 

What God does as He prepares us might not be seen by the world, but we know the blessing is at the finish line.  The race is ahead, be prepared to run.

 Called by Christ,

Amanda