Where you are, is where you're at...

Bad Grammar! Bad, Bad Grammar! I will try to use better grammar for the rest of this post. Notice the use of the word try, so don't get your hopes up too high. :)

The title of this post came from one of those moments driving down the road deep in thought and having the realization that I was physically exactly where God wanted me to be. Not too long a go, I had a post called Pffft. And it was lamenting the fact that I just wanted to see God's outline for my life. He did not have to show me the whole playbook, just give me somewhat of an idea of what his plans were/are. I was waiting to hear about an exciting opportunity. A dream come true really and by dream, I mean DREAM!!!!! A close your eyes and think of the most unobtainable, crazy, thrilling, exciting dream you have ever had and that was what I was looking at coming true. Unfortunately, it did not come true. I was disappointed to say the least but then an amazing thing happened. I had a wonderful realization.

Where you are is, where you're at!

This did not happen for me now because God wants me to give up. It was the exact opposite. He was jumping up and down for joy that I had stepped up and out of my comfort zone (FINALLY) and began the realization of my dream. I feel He allowed me to get as far as I did to encourage me to stay on course with my dream and not to give up. It did not come true because He has me where He needs for now. I would have had to leave home for 8 weeks and things have happened since that I now know God has me where He wants me.

As I type these words, I realize how much I have grown in my relationship with God over the past year. I would still be pouting, if this had been a year ago. And yes, I said still. I am not going to pretend that I did not mope for 2 days because I did and then I sucked it up, counted my blessings and decided to stop sounding like a little snot.

The story of my life- the condensed version: I can't wait until I am sixteen, then everything will be perfect. I can't wait until I go off to college and then everything will be perfect. I can't wait to get a real job and then everything will be perfect. I can't wait to get married and then everything will be perfect. Do you see the pattern here? I have accomplished all of those things and still nothing is perfect- well at least not definition number 1 of perfect.

I know I have posted this previously but I think we need a little reminder...

Perfect: 1. excellent or complete beyond practical or theoretical improvement. 2. exactly fitting the need in a certain situation or for a certain purpose.

You see God is perfect. He is perfect number 1. And because we so kindly screwed up perfect number 1 on this Earth in the Garden of Eden, He blesses us with perfect number 2. He places us where He wants us and needs us exactly fitting the need in a certain situation or for a certain purpose.

And here is the even better news. Let's say you made a mistake and lost your way. You thought, as ALL of us have at some point and time "Hey, I got this. I don't need God's help." or you reached a point where God had no room in your life or you did not want Him in it. You may be looking at your circumstances thinking there is no way any good can come of this or that God can turn this mess around. Stop that crazy talk, honey. God does his best work with the messes we make. He takes the most broken down, lost, sad, scared people and through His love creates beauty.

Every mistake in my life begins with me excluding God. Every mistake ends when I come back to him or allow him to lead me where He wants. And here is the crazy thing, all of the time I was lost, he was right there waiting, patiently waiting. And the most beautiful, incredible, amazing thing is, He was still using that to His good and I was blessed immensely during those times. I may not have seen the blessings or the growth in the moment or it may not have happened until after but it always happened.

We have to stop wasting our time wishing for different circumstances and situations. God may be waiting for us to accept where we are so He can use it for the purpose he intended in the first place. If you have strayed and are not where He wanted/wants you be, it is okay. He can use that for His good too. Let Him.

The story of Joseph really hit home when preparing for this post. It was this passage specifically.
Genesis 45:4-5

4. Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5. And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.

You have to realize that Joseph said these words to his brothers, the men who threw him in a pit and wanted to kill him out of jealousy. Instead they sold him into slavery, where he was unjustly accused of attacking his Master's wife and spent years in prison for this crime. 

(Have I ever mentioned everyone should be thrilled it was not me living these Bible stories because the outcome would have been a whole lot different. I once got mad at my sister and didn't speak to her for a week because she used my lipstick. A whole lot different...)

In Genesis 45:8, Joseph sums it up perfectly.

8“So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt."

Well yeah, that is easy for him to say, he is basically running Egypt and living a king, well a Pharaoh. But he wasn't when he was tossed in the pit, he wasn't when he was a slave and he sure wasn't when he was in prison. Joseph had faith. God was using his current circumstances to help Joseph grow. I mean come on, Joseph became second only to Pharaoh and maintained a level head, keeping God first. There had to be some major character strengthening before hand for that to happen.

You slap a tiara on my head for 45 seconds and I start referring to my hubby as my loyal subject and asked to be fanned and fed grapes.  Yep- be glad I was not a Bible person.

Just remember, whether you are there because God put you here or you put yourself there. Where you are is where you're at. Use it to glorify him and the most wonderful things can happen even if the circumstances do not change.

love- j