In the beginning...
What was your beginning? For me, as I previously shared, my beginning was anything but the “norm”. I was conceived unexpectedly, birthed covertly and raised under cover. I was hidden in shame, tucked away to be passed along to someone else, all without any knowledge of what was happening or even having a name. But God…I so love this statement when I run across it in scripture. But God tells me:
Before I shaped you in the womb,
I knew all about you.
Before you saw the light of day,
I had holy plans for you:
Jeremiah 1:5 (MSG, italics mine)
As I look at the word “shape” in this scripture my mind immediately goes back to my pregnancy. I remember laying in bed, on more than one occasion, feeling the flutter of my little man inside. It was like a tickle from the inside out. Then, as he grew, I could actually watch him move from one side of my belly to the other. Amazing! (Note: I vividly remember thanking God for the experience. That was my “Hannah Moment”. I, like her, wept bitterly before the Lord, begging for a child. What I was experiencing was MY miracle, MY answer.) Now, back to my thought…as I felt Alex flip, turn and move around I can imagine how God was shaping him into the little boy born on July 7, 2003. Just like the potter with His clay, He shaped and molded him into Alex Daniel Brown, 9 pounds, 1 ounce.
Not only did God know what I would look like, what you would look like, He also knew our temperament. If you have ever studied the temperaments there are four to mention:
· Sanguine
ü Cheerful
ü Friendly
ü Talkative
ü Lively
ü Restless
ü Self-centered
ü Undependable
ü Undisciplined
· Choleric
ü Optimistic
ü Active
ü Confident
ü Strong-willed
ü Quick to anger
ü Aggressive
· Inconsiderate
· Melancholy
ü Melancholy
ü Sensitive
ü Analytical
ü Perfectionistic
ü Unsociable
ü Moody
ü Rigid
· Phlegmatic
ü Calm
ü Dependable
ü Efficient
ü Easy-going
ü Passive
ü Stubborn
ü Lazy
For those of you who have not figured me out, I am a SanMel (Sanguine Melancholy). I am cheerful, friendly and talkative as well as undisciplined. I can be moody, a perfectionist and sensitive at times, too. God specifically chose those traits for me. Thank goodness I also know that He will…
“make (me) perfect in every good thing to do His will, working in (me) that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be the glory for ever and ever”. ~Hebrews 13:21 (ASV/Adapted)
Not only did He shape me before I saw the light of day and know who I was going to me, He had a plan for me, ME! Let me encourage you to meditate on that thought, especially if you struggle with accepting the fact Jesus loves you and desires to use you to further His kingdom. He had a plan for you before you were born and still has that plan in hand, waiting for you to seek your assignment.
Honestly I can’t wait for Alex to get saved. We pray earnestly for that, speaking of it often. The next most exciting thing for me is to see what God has planned for Him. I say this with all the honesty I have ~ I cannot wait to see his life unfold in HIM! I sit and think “How is God going to use Alex?” “Where is God going to use Alex?” Our lives are unfolding at such a pace right know it is difficult for me to keep up with God is doing ~ I just know He is doing something and I am incredibly thankful He chose us.
God has His pen in hand writing out the days of our lives. We all have beginnings and I pray we all have happy endings… Happy endings do not mean continually happy lives ~ just lives wholly dedicated to Him, serving Him ~ in good times and difficult. I close with one of my favorite passages in Hebrews.
I could go on and on, but I've run out of time. There are so many more— Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets....Through acts of faith, they toppled kingdoms, made justice work, took the promises for themselves. They were protected from lions, fires, and sword thrusts, turned disadvantage to advantage, won battles, routed alien armies. Women received their loved ones back from the dead. There were those who, under torture, refused to give in and go free, preferring something better: resurrection. Others braved abuse and whips, and, yes, chains and dungeons. We have stories of those who were stoned, sawed in two, murdered in cold blood; stories of vagrants wandering the earth in animal skins, homeless, friendless, powerless—the world didn't deserve them!—making their way as best they could on the cruel edges of the world.
~Hebrews 11:32-38 (MSG, italics and boldness mine)
In Him,
Stefanie
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