Advantages

This morning a friend of mine commented to me, "Maybe your future husband will be in the publishing industry!" I said to her, I don’t expect that.

My reason is that I do believe there is a method to God’s apparent madness in my life, and I think I’m catching on to His modus operandi. First He said He had to give me a house before He gave me a husband; clearly He has no intention of letting somebody else take the credit for my having a house. Then when it came time for me to build an addition on my house, He saw to it that my construction-trade brothers were not significantly involved. Again, clearly no opportunity for anyone to say, "Sure, you could build that addition because you have brothers in the construction trades."

What I’m catching on to is that the Lord doesn’t seem to want me to have anything that could be considered an advantage, before He does His thing. This way, when He does His thing, He gets all the credit.

And this way, when the generations to come look at what He has done through me, they will not say, "Of course she could accomplish that; she had a husband to buy her a house, she had brothers to build her addition, she had a husband who was in the publishing industry," etc.

I was definitely not born with a silver spoon in my mouth; in fact, about the only new clothes I can remember having as a child were either homemade, or underwear. I used to stuff an old towel in my bedroom window during the winter, both to stop it from rattling, and to keep the stiff north wind out. I do not have the sort of natural charm or "winning" personality that automatically attracts people. I don’t have influential contacts. I don’t have the backing of an adoring, loyal family, or of a church. I am not physically strong or amazingly beautiful. In fact, I just don’t see how many "advantages" anyone could accuse me of having. I’ve got the gifts God put in me when He formed me in my mother’s womb, and I’ve got Him. And I’ve got the point.

If I can have nothing but me and the One who created me, and if I can "go places," then anyone can. Because everyone has the gifts that God put in them when He formed them in their mother’s womb. You have the gifts God put in you when He formed you in your mother’s womb. If you’ve used them or not is a different question altogether, but you have them. And you have every bit as much access to your Creator as I do.

So, no, no advantages. No husband in the publishing industry or the music industry or any sort of industry that would give me an advantage. Because this is God’s show. He may shine His light on me, but it will always be His show.

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