Message from Carol Vandernaalt, Registrar

“[For] it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good
purpose.” Philippians 2:13 (NIV 1984)

I took a sip of coffee and grimaced as I peered into the cup. Everything looked like it should, but the coffee wasn’t sweet. Yet I remembered tearing open the little yellow packets and sprinkling the sweet crystals over the surface of the caramel colored liquid. Then I realized that—while I had added the sugar—I had never stirred it into the coffee. Without that stirring action, the sugar couldn’t work all the way through.

I do this with my faith as well. I add all the necessary ingredients. I’ve got my Bible, my devotion subscription, my godly friends, my church, my special quiet time journal, my praise and worship songs, my verses memorized. If you looked at me, you’d say it’s all there.

But I’d rather avoid the stirring up part, truth be told. I’d tell you that I know it’s good for me. I’d tell you that it’s not good to stay in one place. I’d tell you that you should submit to God and let Him stir you up and that I’d be glad to pray for you during that process. But me? No. Just leave me alone. Let me sit. I’d rather look okay and be comfortable than be stirred up and reach my full potential.

Have you ever had those feelings?

Maybe today you’re feeling stirred up. Your finances or your job or your marriage or your children or your friendships or your dreams feel like a cyclone is swirling through them, leaving you unsettled and unstable. You might be wondering why God is letting this happen, why He’s forgotten you. Not thinking that it just might be His hand doing the stirring. He’s using those swirling forces to reach all the parts of you that He wants to get to. As today’s verse reminds us, He works in you to accomplish His purpose for you. As you are stirred up in life, thank God that He loves you enough to not let you get stuck, to not leave you bitter. The elements are there—and that’s important—but it’s in the stirring that we become all that He has in mind.

-Proverbs 31 Ministries Devotion