A couple of things happened this week that started me thinking about how God prepares the way for you if you let Him. Many times, we try to do things all by ourselves: since I always wanted to be in control, for most of my life that was my pattern. Before I accepted Christ as my Savior, I didn't realize that the Holy Spirit is with me always, helping me and leading me. This week I realized how God had gone before me to set me up for success.
First, I listened to a Joel Olsteen sermon. He was sharing several examples from his life of how God prepared the way for him and his church. Sometimes when things seemed to be going wrong, it was just a case of God waiting for the right time and the right people to be in place to fulfill His best for Joel and his church.
Then a friend of mine, who had worked for me when I had a retail business selling large pretzels, sent me a short article about pretzels. In the article, it talked about "its origins in Christianity and the Catholic Church. They believe the pretzel shape represents the Holy Trinity, the three holes representing the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Soft pretzels, using a simple recipe of only flour, water and salt were used during Lent when Christians were not permitted to eat eggs, lard, or any dairy products. It eventually became a tradition on Easter morning to hide pretzels for the children in a pretzel hunt, instead of eggs for an Easter egg hunt like we do today. As a result, pretzels have become heavily associated with both Lent and Easter."
This starting me thinking. My husband had always told me that I might be the only Jesus my customers might see. I took that to heart. Consequently, my customers became like family: we cared about each other and supported each other. During the time I had the business, God's presence was felt mightily. Reading about the history of pretzels, I wondered if God had encouraged me to pick selling pretzels as my business rather than anything else, because in His subtle way, He knew that He was preparing me, like the pretzels, to represent the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
He prepared the way for me to even be in the mall. New managers had taken over and were revamping the mall. Even though I had no retail experience, they decided to take a chance on me. Having my business in the mall prepared the way for my miracle wedding, eight years later (you can listen to Mall Order Bride, A True Cinderella Story on the podcast on this website). Just before the wedding, the Lord moved the manager and promotions person out and put two new people in those positions, who were then inspired to promote what they called "The Wedding of the Year". The more I thought about the Lord working on my behalf in my life, the more I saw and was amazed.
I would like to encourage all of you to take some time to reflect on how the Lord has worked in your lives. If, for some reason, you do not see that pattern in your life, I recommend that you begin to put God first in your life. In Matthew 6:33. Scripture says, "Seek the kingdom of God above all else and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need."
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