A young Christian woman asked me, “I’m so scared to make a mistake in allowing the wrong person in my life, how will I know I’m making the right decision?” No doubt this young woman has seen the consequences many women have faced after they’ve made a wrong choice. Their relationships ended so badly and left these women in such a predicament that their faith was shaken. These setbacks caused them to feel depleted, lost, and insecure. If they had known more of God’s Word and walked in greater wisdom, surely the devil would not have had an opportunity to steal from them in such a brutal way. “How did they not know?” the young woman asked. It is a fair question when it comes to fully grown adults. How are we bamboozled by another human being to such an extent that we lose so much of ourselves in the process? This is a worthy question to explore, because the stability of our lives can be so damaged by a wrong choice that we’re fearful and others who see our pain become fearful too.
I explained to this young woman that when it comes to receiving anything in life, if it isn’t a presentation from God, then it needs to go back where it came from. Whether it’s a job, a new relationship or even financial increases, you want to make sure that anything and everything that’s new in your life, is not of your own doing, but is completely orchestrated by Heavenly Father. You may think that’s going a bit overboard, but really when it comes to your life, you can’t afford to make mistakes that will repeatedly set you back on this Christian journey; the wrong decisions can be very costly. Not just financially, but mentally, emotionally and particularly spiritually. It takes time and effort to regain what we’ve lost. So, to avoid losing time, momentum, and stamina, we should make sure that something we think is a blessing really is one.
Making Sure It’s from God
Particularly in the arena of dating, you might hear the statement, “waiting on a presentation from God” quite often. Some might get the impression that God suddenly brings a person out of nowhere and ‘boom!’, there he is. Heavenly Father has given us patterns in His Word that will aid our understanding of how He moves. Receiving the promise of what God wants to do specifically in our lives is only the first step. Sometimes, God will give us a dream, a vision, or a revelation from His Word through the Holy Spirit, and this affirms that He has heard our prayers and that the answer to our prayers is not only in alignment with His Will, but it’s on its way. The only way to make sure that God approves and that we are in partnership with His Will is to receive it first from the Holy Spirit. This is the pattern of Christ.
Jesus Christ said in John 8:29(NLT), “And the one who sent me is with me—he has not deserted me. For I always do what pleases him.” Jesus Christ ONLY did those things that pleased God. He did nothing else. His practice was that of staying continually in prayer, getting up early in the mornings to pray, and during these times he would receive direction first, and then guidance from the Holy Spirit for his day. He never went off on his own, doing his own thing. He said in John 5:19(NLT), “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.” This is the level of obedience and fellowship with God through Christ that the Father expects to see in us. We receive the promise, walk through the process, and then we’re prepared for the presentation.
Spiritual Preparation
Spiritual preparation is God’s process to get us ready for the presentation. Think of the span of time between God speaking His plans to those He employed, and then them actually receiving the promise. The distance between God’s spoken promise and the fruition of it was spiritual preparation. In Deuteronomy 11:8-9(NLT), He told His people, “8 Therefore, be careful to obey every command I am giving you today, so you may have strength to go in and take over the land you are about to enter. 9 If you obey, you will enjoy a long life in the land the LORD swore to give to your ancestors and to you, their descendants—a land flowing with milk and honey!”
In order to go in and possess the promise, the people had to have spiritual strength. They had to obey God’s commandment and continue to pursue Him. In truth, not only did they have to receive God’s promise to know what HE wanted, they had to increase in spiritual strength, so they’d be able to take possession. Then, in order to enjoy the blessing, their continued obedience was necessary. We can see throughout the Old Testament that whenever and wherever God’s people failed to honor Him and His Word, their blessings were stolen and destroyed by the devil.
Heavenly Father doesn’t want our blessings to be stolen and destroyed by the enemy. He helps us tremendously so we can not only avoid this, but we can receive His guidance before we take the wrong actions. Many of us look at ourselves today and think we’re fully stocked and ready to rock. But the way to truly know we’re ready is to receive the promise supernaturally, put our hands in God’s hands, and let Him walk us through spiritual preparation for the presentation.
Psalms 37:5(NLT) tells us “Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you.” God never makes a mistake. He is a God of order and perfection. We do not have to be fearful of making a horrible mistake when we have confidence that comes from receiving the promise directly from the Holy Spirit that indwells us. If we will be obedient, humble, and patient to walk with God through His process, the way many before us have done, we will be prepared for the presentation, and know that it’s one God, Himself, is making. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“The Promise, Process, And Presentation” written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2020. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.