show me already ........

Yesterday, I stood at Federal Hill Park viewing the Inner Harbor and an object to my right caught my attention. It was a hand protruding out of a brick wall waiting to unveil a banner of some sort. Out of all the gorgeous views that are available from Charm City, my eyes (and my mind) were drawn to this.

So often while on our journey toward ‘purpose’, I feel like God’s hand is just like this picture. If only (we think) He would release those two fingers and allow our banner to roll out for us to see….then choosing what, when, why, and where would be so much easier, right?

More often than not, when you are pursuing God’s will, it feels as though this picture represents what we see. How many times I have asked Him, ‘Lord, would you please just SHOW me.’ And no matter how hard I pray, the picture remains rolled up in His hand.

Imagine:
          * David – already anointed to be Israel’s next king, yet he 

has to hide in a cave night after night.

* Job – sleepless nights, hurting from the boils that 

have consumed his body. 

* Abraham – walking his only son Isaac up a hill attempting 

to fulfill God’s request and offer his only son as a sacrifice. 

* Mary – a mom’s agony of having to watch her son 

(the Savior of the world) carry His cross toward Calvary while 

being spit upon, mocked, and beaten.

What about you? Those sleepless nights. The pain. The questions. It just feels like God’s hand is keeping our ‘banner of purpose’ rolled up.

·      David would answer today though – “I was described as a man after God’s own heart.”

·      Job would say – “I was given back more than I ever had before, for God used me to represent humanity to Satan. God even said there was none like me in all the earth.”

·      Abraham would describe it this way – ‘The walk up the hill that day was so vital to mine and Isaac’s future for eventually I became the father of many nations.  And, by the way, God provided a sacrifice for us that day.

·      No mother should ever have to see what Mary witnessed, but after the third day and the banner dropped – “That day was so necessary because today, every generation can know Him and be forgiven of all sin because of His sacrifice.”

God is not dangling your purpose in front of you like a puppeteer – toying with you like some jokester. Trust in His plan. And when the time of your revealing comes, the banner will not only fall for you to see….but EVERYONE else as well.

Isaiah 49:3-4 (NLT)
3 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, and you will bring me glory.”
4 I replied, “But my work seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose. YET I leave it all in the Lord’s hand; I will trust God for my reward.”