We show people how to experience God’s love. Out of that encounter flows everything good – healing, growth, obedience, sacrifice, mission. As you plan your year-end giving, remember that a gift to Dwight Clough Ministries Inc. empowers us to help people on every continent to experience God’s love, sometimes for the very first time. See DwightClough.com for details.
Abraham was the father of Isaac … — Matthew 1:2
Matthew begins his gospel by reminding us that Jesus didn’t get here by accident. He arrived as the culmination of a series of miracles and divinely-appointed "coincidences." It took the impossible to get Jesus onto this earth, and God was up to the task. Abraham and Sarah have a child about 70 years later than most couples do. Isaac wrestled in prayer for God to grant his barren wife a child. Jacob accidentally married the wrong woman. Judah, well … you can read that story for yourself.
As you read down the list, you see that babies keep arriving under unusual circumstances. In Jesse’s family, even after seven boys, it took one more baby to get the child God wanted for His royal line (now there’s a mom with raw courage!).
Even today, the path to Jesus’ arrival is paved with miracles, with improbabilities, with the unusual and the unexpected. In my own life, who would have guessed that my dad’s assignment to a radar post on the North Carolina coast would result in an eternal change of direction for us all! It seems so random on the surface. It seemed so unfair at the time — it wasn’t the transfer my parents wanted. But now I look back at that mixture of dirt roads, alligators, dogs tipping over trash cans, copperheads and childhood bullies, sand, heat, sweat, songs, testimonies, missionaries, meals and love with gratitude in my heart.
And that may be the lesson. Life doesn’t always make sense in "play" mode. Sometimes you gotta push rewind before you start smiling and realizing what an ingenious plan God had all along.
Be encouraged!
Dwight
Discoveries Devotional – Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by
Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc.
1223 West Main Street #228
Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA
Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations.
Visit DwightClough.com for more information. Dwight and his wife Kim are active members of Lake City Church in Madison.