Several years ago, I stared out the window on a Saturday morning, sipping coffee and enjoying the early morning quiet of a house filled with my sleeping family. The silence was broken by a sound I interpreted at first to be my children jumping up and down upstairs. As the house shook, the waves of realization came slowly across my slightly-caffeinated brain: an earthquake.
I had no idea where I should be or what I should do. I live in Arkansas, not California! Was I supposed to bring everyone downstairs to a bathroom, like in a tornado? Get everyone out of the house like in a fire? Get under a desk or into a doorway? Thankfully, the earthquake ended by the time I gathered my confused, bleary-eyed family, and we were fine.
After we settled down, I was struck by how unprepared I was. When the unexpected happens, we often find ourselves feeling scared, confused, or even frantic. Life is happening, and we need to act or respond, but we have no clue what to do.
This month we’re studying God’s provision. We’ve seen how He supplies all our needs and generously gives us wisdom. He also prepares us for every task He calls us to do.
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)
In the verses right before this one, Paul explained how God provided for us in salvation. (Go read Ephesians 2:1-9 – they’re great verses!) We were incapable of saving ourselves, and God intervened with His mercy and grace. Paul made it clear that we are not saved by our good works but we are saved by the gift of God’s grace.
As those who have been saved by grace, we do good works out of gratitude for our salvation. And just like God didn’t leave us on our own to earn our salvation, He doesn’t leave us to tackle the good works by ourselves. He prepares good works for us to do and prepares us to do that work. We can trust Him to perfectly equip us for all that He calls us to do.
No matter what you face this week, God has prepared you for this, because you are His workmanship.
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