Some Things Are Just For You

As I would spend time in the Word, it was beginning to come alive in my heart like never before. And as my excitement grew, so did my desire to tell those I cared about, what I was learning.

They just stared at me. Some were nodding their heads, some wore a slight smile, and a few had actually been dozing off from time to time. My small group. A precious group of women that had become my biggest cheerleaders and encouragers over the last year. 

I had just given what I thought was a riveting history lesson on why God took the life of Moses short of the promised land and how his absence affected the Israelites wandering in the wilderness. With each Bible nugget I gave them, I was bursting with excitement and even had to hold back tears at just my extreme appreciation of God’s sovereignty in this story. But they just stared at me. What in the world? 

Were they hearing what I was saying? Were they seeing how all the dots connected? Did these characters and heroes of our faith not become incredibly real as I talked through these very human aspects of their character? Why had my teaching, which had taken me several hours of digging in both the Bible and commentaries to put together, seem to fall flat? 

I realized in that moment that I had chosen to share, something that God had begun to develop in me, with a room of women that loved me but didn’t really care for a history lesson that Sunday morning. While understanding God’s story is so important in our faith journey, without warning I dumped all that God was using in my life at the moment onto them and then expected them to share my enthusiasm. That’s when I felt God impress upon my heart a simple thought, “Some things are just for you.’  

Over the last several months, God had been giving me an urgent desire to dig deeper into His story and really peel back the history of the Word. I had been learning so many incredible facts that mirrored other things in our secular history and the connections were elevating my appreciation for the Lord and the Bible. 

As I would spend time in the Word, it was beginning to come alive in my heart like never before. And as my excitement grew, so did my desire to tell those I cared about, what I was learning. 

But just because I was ready to tell, does not mean they were ready to receive. God is so graciously personal. He comes to each of us, right where we are in our lives, and works in that place. For me, and for this season, the history of the pages is where God was working. 

1 Samuel 16: 11-13 shows us the call God placed on a young teenager’s life to become king of His chosen nation:

“So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the Lord said, ‘Arise, anoint him; for this is he.’ Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers, and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward..”

While David doesn’t understand how this will happen, how long it might be before he sits on the throne, or what will become of his life, we know that God remained faithful. 

All we know is that prior to being chosen, David is keeping his father’s sheep. I wonder how many things David endured in that position that grew in him a strong character God would one day use? His “keeping the sheep” proved his faithfulness in the small things and revealed his commitment to those he loved. 

But David’s life did not change overnight. We find him faithfully keeping sheep after this anointing when the current King, Saul, summons him for an audience. In fact, it would be roughly another fifteen years before David would sit on the throne. 

The stirring God began in Him would take time to be worked out. It would take faithfulness, obedience, and action. 

I find myself encouraged by David’s slow and sometimes gut-wrenching accent to God’s fulfillment in his life. It is a reminder that likely, God might begin to grow a vision or dream in my heart long before He deems me ready to make a move. But that’s why it’s so important that we pay attention to the activity of the Holy Spirit in our lives. 

What makes you excited? What is stirring in your heart? Can you name it yet? Identify it? What new thing is God showing you that you just can’t shake? Peel back the layers and discover what God has for you.

But remember, some things are just for you. Some things, in the secret place, are meant for you to show your faithfulness, your obedience, and your action. Passion needs clarity and vision. 

Store up this new burning within your heart and treasure it. Relish the fact that the King of the Universe is calling you to go deeper with Him. 

Soak it up and take it all in. And wait on Him to tell you to move.

The stirring God began in Him would take time to be worked out. It would take faithfulness, obedience, and action.