Being put on the shelf

[Michael37]

12 hours ago, Rosie1jack2pauline3 said:

I believe God can ignore us, which has and can drive me crazy.....I usually know the reason why, then make amends...he knows I don’t deserve to be his child....but, there it is he chose to forgive me , forever in the Lords debt....could never be able to repay Jesus for what he did, laying his life down,🙏

Act 10:34-35  Then Peter opened his mouth and said: "In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.  (35)  But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.

@Rosie1jack2pauline3 When you say, "I believe God can ignore us", you are right in the sense that God can do whatever He pleases with us. The analogy of a monarch butterfly struggling to escape from its coccoon when hatching is often used to illustrate why God sometimes seems to ignore us in our struggles. In the case of the monarch butterfly the struggle to escape the coccoon serves to pump fluid into places to strengthen its muscles and eventually cause its wings to spread, enabling flight.

Isa 40:31  But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

If we believe God is ignoring us it may be He is also enabling us.

Just a thought this sunny morning here.
 

  

 

 

[GandalfTheWise]

What we see as being sidelined or shelved might be a matter of discipline or preparation/transformation or taking a rest break or a push to move in a different direction.  I think it's important to prayerfully discern which it is.  If discipline due to stubbornness or self-will, what do we need to change?  If preparation or transformation, what is the big change that is happening?  If taking a rest, how to make the most of it?  If a move to a new direction, what is that direction?

For a long time, I saw Moses spending decades as a shepherd in the wilderness as discipline and punishment for having jumped the gun, being disobedient, being a murderer, etc.   Then at some point, I realized it was a necessary step of transformation and preparation to transform him from being an Egyptian (used to having authority, education, and wealthy urban living) into a Hebrew (used to being a shepherd, self-supporting, and living an agrarian lifestyle).  God wanted Moses to be a Hebrew prophet, not an Egyptian general or pharaoh.  God was preparing him to lead a nation of shepherds.  It took decades in the wilderness to change him to the point he was more comfortable as a Hebrew than an Egyptian.  Moses couldn't in one day become a Hebrew leader by just deciding to, that's what he tried to do what he killed the Egyptian.  He had to live as a Hebrew in the wilderness for decades to become one.  He wasn't sidelined, he was being transformed into a Hebrew prophet.

 

[Marilyn C]

I also believe that we can have a wrong understanding of `being of service.` We often think we have to be out saving people, when actually it is the Holy Spirit who does that. However we can think we have to be telling people about Jesus. 

However many are needed to pray for the laborers, to encourage others who are ministering directly, and then of course there is the most important service of praising and worshipping the Lord.

Let`s be careful we don`t limit God`s ways of service, but do what is before us - pray, and if any more opens up, well and good if not do that with all our heart and regularly. "It is by my Spirit," says the Lord. 

[Sower]

11 minutes ago, Marilyn C said:

Let`s be careful we don`t limit God`s ways of service, but do what is before us - pray, and if any more opens up, well and good if not do that with all our heart and regularly. "It is by my Spirit," says the Lord. 

 

"For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name,
because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward"
Mark 9:41    The little things...

[BeyondET]

Huh sounds like a song I've heard.

Above & beyond, "on a good day".

 sitting on a shelf but never seen the sun shine brighter feels like me on a good day.

Edited January 27, 2022 by BeyondET

[Marathoner]

Whatever befalls us is not only the will and purpose of Almighty God, but it is expressly for our benefit. 

There was a time when I was a vain and decidedly arrogant man, so it pleased the Lord to bring me low so that I lost everything that was given to me. Everything but the life in this body of flesh and blood, that is. 

I was a hothead --- quick to speak and exceedingly slow to listen --- therefore, the Lord made it so that I struggled to speak a single word. I lived in silence.
Intellect was something I took for granted, so the Lord took that intellect away. My mind was a swirling storm of chaos... I struggled to focus on the simplest of things. 
I was strong, so the Lord reduced me to weakness. I could barely walk ten steps before collapsing in exhaustion. 

It took decades for His work to bear fruit; when this was accomplished, I was penniless, homeless, and almost dead. I suffered grievous brain damage from the lengthy ordeal and truly, there seemed to be no hope for me. 

That, my friends, was precisely where the Lord intended for me to be from the beginning. 

Rejoice and be exceedingly glad when tribulation comes, for what waits on the other side surpasses all expectation. Indeed, I was struck speechless (once more) when the Lord revealed His arm. We are clay in His hands. Praise the Lord!