The Power of Pre……
PRE is a the preposition that means previous to or before.
Yesterday I wrote about the tornadoes that raged through Texas on Monday night and carried on through to the East. I spoke of my daughter and her family having to evacuate to safety at 11:30 pm. They were able to return home around 1 am, Tuesday.
After some good sleep, Staci Wallace called me with the update. In the daylight they could see their 7-acre lake was filled to overflowing. In fact, it is now an 8-acre lake. That’s a good thing. They had been patient in the pre-period: watching the natural springs coming into the excavated area; also setting up the above-ground areas with decoy ducks to show where the best fishing holes will be. And, adding a fish feeder, plus fill it with the 18,000 fish.
See those trees on the North side? That’s where I’ll be parking myself as I throw my line in the water to catch a big one. But, this is still PRE. Those 18,000 fish they filled the lake with last week will be food for the bigger fish, and if they survive, it will take a while to grow up!
There’s something to be said for PRE (before). Why would we cast a line in those waters now? My children have also planted a garden full of vegetables. Why would they have looked for vegetables before they tilled the soil and prepared it for seed? It’s in the PRE of our lives that determines the quality of the harvest we’re going to enjoy! The garden is pre-harvest. Seeds are planted but seed time and harvest require time.
Were it not for the PRE (preparation) – killing the bear and the lion, the young shepherd boy David would not have had the confidence or skill to be able to kill a giant with a sling shot. A lion and a bear didn’t look like a Goliath, but they were the perfect instruments of preparation.
Seriously, everything is preparation. Every mistake we make is preparation. Every lesson we learn is preparation. Every step of our faith journey is preparation. God uses it all. I know He did for me. I started out baby-sitting for 50 cents an hour when I was just 12-years old. The doctor and his wife across the street from us had a three-year-old and a newborn. They found me capable and having my mom across the street for extra support gave them confidence. And, for me, I proved my capability for the baby of my own that I would have just six years later.
Who knew I would be living so on purpose with what I do today….even with these blog posts? Oh, God did – when I was in typing classes in my high school class; when I became a technical writer for companies that I worked for; when I needed a forum to shout to the mountain tops that “GOD IS FAITHFUL” during my greatest trials.
The school teacher prepares lessons that will prepare her students for good grades that will help promote them to their next grade and prepare them for life. Most certainly, THE Teacher (our Heavenly Father) knows best about what He is PREPARING for us.
When we start seeing our pain as preparation and all the ups and downs we go through as preparation, then we’ll suck it up and live up to our potential placed in us by God Himself. God is preparing us for what He has prepared for us. It is not failure. It isn’t a setback. It is preparation. Indeed, there is POWER in preparation.
What is the PRE in your life today that seems overwhelming? It isn’t to God. It is the preparation for your next level; your next promotion; your next BIG WIN!