ShareThis Devotional for 09/17/2013 Practice Sessions "If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?" - Jeremiah 12:5 When I was in high school, I played in the marching band. A few weeks before school actually started, we began to practice, training the new members and getting the returning members back into shape. We marched in place, stepping high. Often the drum major would require us to stand with one leg in the air, and hold it there. We practiced staying in step with each other and keeping straight lines. We stopped, started, turned, moved, and froze in position, over and over again, until we learned to follow orders implicitly and immediately. It was challenging and exhausting. Yet, during all that time, we had not gone anywhere or played any music. We were just beginning to train for future contests. Every year, there were many eager candidates for the marching band, and every year, the first few weeks of practice produced the same results: drop-outs. Was it cruel of our bandleader to exact such strenuous and unpleasant exercises from us at the start? Not at all. He knew that those who would not discipline themselves for the weeks of practice would make poor band members when it came to competition and long marches. He also knew that those who persisted in practice would be good members in the marching band. Likewise, in the Gospel, the Lord allows trials and tests to come our way in order to make us strong. The enemy would tell us that the difficult times in our lives are pointless, empty exercises from which we should have been spared. But the truth is that these tests are “practice sessions” for what God knows lay ahead. He is carefully preparing each one of us: strengthening and teaching discipline and obedience. He already knows how He would like to use us in the future, but first He must make us ready for that task. Do you feel as though you have been “marching in place” and not going anywhere? Do thoughts of the future overwhelm you? Take courage! God is preparing you today for what tomorrow holds. He will not send you out unprepared, and His grace will see you through. Devotional Archive 2013 (62)
Posted on: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 08:57:44 +0000
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