There’s a new song that was released recently by Hillsong Worship called Come Alive. I really love the lyrics in this song, specifically this one:

 

Are you waiting on Heaven

Or is it waiting on you

 

The first time I heard the song was in November of last year and now four months later I’m writing a devo about them, so you can see that these lyrics have pretty impactful to me :) I think that Christians, myself included, have a habit of saying “Ok God. I’m ready to do your work! Well, that is, as long as you go first and show me what I need to do specifically. But otherwise, I’m ready!” And then we sit and wait for a big sign to smack us over the head. Now don’t get me wrong, I think there sometimes is a need to slow down and wait instead of rushing God, but I think we have a habit of waiting more often than we act and waiting when we should be acting. Sometimes we need to prepare for God, not because He needs it but because we do.

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In the Bible, Joshua is one of the greatest demonstrators of preparing for God's provision. God had promised the land of Jericho to the Israelites and Joshua was the one who was supposed to lead the Israelites into said land. When they arrived at the land, they realize that Jericho is not some small, rinky-dink town but a strong and mighty fortress. Joshua 6:1-2 says:

 

Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in. Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.

 

When God promised Joshua and the other Israelites this land, they probably assumed that the land would be move-in ready. God said that He would give them this land though and so the Israelites had to prepare for God to give them the city. As many of you know, God told Joshua to lead the Israelites around the walls of Jericho once for six days quietly and then on the seventh day to walk around it seven times, followed by shouting and the playing of trumpets. They did this and on the seventh day, after doing God's work and preparing for God to provide, the walls of Jericho came tumbling down. The Israelites had to prepare to receive Jericho. While sometimes what we need to do to prepare for our Jericho to be delivered isn't so clear, we can always pray and read His word and worship Him. 

 

There’s a movie called Facing the Giants, its a fabulous movie and if you have loads of time on your hands I would definitely recommend watching it. It’s a classic underdog sports story but, despite the cliche, it’s still really good. Watch this clip from the movie and then come back (helpful hint, the guy sitting at the desk in the striped shirt is the head football coach). 

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I love the moment where Mr. Bridges tells Grant that God will send the rain when He is ready but that Grant needs to prepare his fields to receive it. So often I find myself wanting God to bring the rain, most of the time metaphorically but sometimes quite literally, but I do nothing to prepare for the rain. God is all-powerful and will send the rain when the timing is right, but it is my job to prepare my fields for His rain. Rain is only useful to fields if it is actually absorbed into the soil. If it just runs off, the rain isn’t useful. So if we pray for God to provide us with rain but our fields aren’t prepared for it, His rain won’t be soaked into our fields. 

 

So what are you asking God for? Is it healing? Peace? More of Him? Maybe it’s something more physical like a college acceptance letter or a job for a parent. How can you be preparing your fields for God?