Recently something about Jesus that Team Swap has always known mentally has really begun to strike us in a deeper spiritual sense as well. That is that Jesus lived thirty years before He began ministering in earnest. Yes we know He debated the religious scholars as a child, and turned water into wine at a wedding before He really began His work as the living walking messiah So, all you people that are getting ready to send us email to correct us can close your email windows and finish reading now. Our point is that for the most part He lived quietly for 30 years without showing any significant signs of His ultimate purpose, yet He prepared for His ultimate goal the entire time.
Think about this - Jesus left Heaven, He left His father, He left the angels, and He left perfection to come to earth. In addition to doing of all of this, instead of coming as a adult, and immediately beginning to do the work of salvation, He came as a child and for almost thirty years did nothing but live as a sinless man. That in itself is a testament to both His love, and His perfection. He worked, He ran, He hurt His body, He bleed from labor, and all of this was not to show He was God but where He could be fully man.
Most of us have patience issues both in our spiritual and physical lives. Even if we are patient people in general it is difficult for us to wait for great things to occur when we know they are in our future. We can wait patiently when future things are not much bigger then our current state, but when great things and large blessings are coming it is difficult for us to wait. If God revealed to us that He had a huge plan for us to change the world, but that it would not begin for 30 months we would most likely not spend the 30 months living our normal life. Most likely we would spend the time doing things that only made us more impatient, more confused and more divided internally. Few of us would spend the time building a complete and total reputation as a normal person for others to see and follow later.
Jesus’s mere act of living a full and complete life patiently, all the time knowing what He was here for and what would happen to Him in the end, says as much about His Godhood as anything else. It is the same lesson that we teach our local students year after year - what if God has you stay exactly where you are for another year, or two, all the time building you into the person you will need to be when the real work begins would you wait patiently or rebel against Him. Few people knowing that greatness is coming can wait patiently. We dream of the big ministry, the big impact, the big reputation, the big fame, etc , yet the life of Christ bares out that greatness usually comes after a long period of regular living and regular toils that lead us to where we can begin our work that will be greatly impactful.
We are not saying that because big things take time that we should just wait until there is act of God, i.e a fire being lit under our butt, to begin working. Actually we are saying the exact opposite, we should labor daily in the mundane and normal as preparation for the great things to come. This makes us the person we need to be to accomplish the great things in the future, and honestly those things may be 30 days, 30 weeks, 30 months, or 30 years from today. The timing is up to God, the call though is to be like Christ. Jesus knew His purpose, and how His time here would end, when He left Heaven. Jesus did not rush here to do His work, and then rush back to Heaven. He came, lived, and experienced all that we live and work through Himself. He did all fo this before He began the largest part of His work and teaching. That makes the already impressive life of Christ even more so.
We have no idea what the ultimate large / long term vision God has for you is, as we are not in your prayer closet. However, we are sure that part of it involves where ever and whatever you are involved in at this time. Jesus lived through all your life involves and more when at anytime He could have said - “It is time to go back home. I’m going to get to teaching where I can get my job here finished and get back home.”. He worked in the mundane until the right time came, then and only then - in the time of the Father - did He begin His true and full ministry.
Have a great day living in the daily normal labor of God. Remember that for most of us it is vital to combine the patience that we have talked about today with the occasional instantly impactful ministry, short term - immediate labor, where we will stay encouraged and motivated to stay on track and focused until the time of our blossoming occurs. God has greatness planned for all of us, weather the world notices it or not is not important. The key is to be ready when your time of greatness comes. Encouraging you to be and stay prepared is the purpose of this note. So prepare today for the greatness God has planned for you tomorrow, even if that tomorrow is way in the future.
