He Put You Where He Wanted You

{sidebar id=1}I was working in the garage when my youngest daughter popped in.

“Dad, do turtles bite?”

“Yes.” (And now the more important question…) “Why do you ask?”

“Because there’s a big turtle in our front yard. I want to pick it up.”

“What are you going to do with it?”

“I’m going to put it in a box and bring it in out of the rain.”

She didn’t, but let’s say she did. Let’s say she brought it in and named it Tommy – “Tommy the Turtle.” We have a large Florida room, so let’s say she turned it into a turtle room. She put Tommy in there, and started building a little turtle world.

She built little ramps for Tommy to walk on. She built a stone hill in the corner, with water flowing down. She added lots of plants to make Tommy feel at home. There was plenty of dirt and food and little places to go. Then when she got done building the turtle world, one day she sat down and started trying to communicate with Tommy. To Tommy’s surprise, he actually understood a thing or two she said.

It took a lot of work, but soon the two could communicate, though it was on a very primitive level. Tommy was so excited to actually have a little friendship going with my daughter.

One day it dawned on him all that my daughter had done for him. So when she came home from school he couldn’t wait to talk to her. He said, “I am so amazed that you did all this for me. I want to thank you. And what’s more, I want to make a commitment to you. I’ll do anything. So let me ask, where do you want me to go? What do you want me to do?”

She said, “Where do I want you to go? I want you to stay here! That’s why I brought you here in the first place. That’s why I made this little world for you.”

“Yes,” he said, “But that was before I even knew you.”

“That doesn’t matter,” she said. “The point is, I knew you. And I put you just where I wanted you.”

“But I want to do something for you.”

“Oh, and you will,” she said. “We will have many adventures together, especially now that we are friends. And they will all begin right here in the place I put you before you even knew me.”

And that’s the story of Tommy the Turtle. And you know, I think we are all a bit like Tommy. Listen to this. Before we were even born, God was setting things up for us. He was putting things into place that would become our little world. And remember, this was before we knew Him.

Then at some point we begin to comprehend a thing or two He says to us. We understand what He has done for us, and we get excited. And like Tommy we are ready to make a big commitment. We ask God, “Where do you want me to go? What do you want me to do?”

And God says, “Where do I want you to go? I want you to stay here. That’s why I brought you here in the first place and made this little world for you.”

“But that was before I knew you.”

“Yes, but the point is, I knew you. And I put you just where I wanted you.”

And we say to God, “but I want to do something for you.”

And He says, “And you will. We will have many adventures together, especially now that we are friends. And they will all begin right here in the place I put you before you even knew me.”

Some might say, “Well, Doug, that’s a nice story. You got any Bible to back it up?”

Yes, First Corinthians 7. Three times - in verses 17, 20 and 24 – it says we should remain in the situation we were in when God called us.

“Is that a law?”

No, it’s a principle. You see, God was deeply involved in your life long before you knew it. He built up a world around you, gave you talents and gifts and opportunities. And now that you know He’s calling you, it doesn’t mean you have to run off somewhere else to serve Him. No, you begin right where you are.

“But that was before I knew Him.”

Yes, but the point is, He always knew you, and He put you just where He wanted you to begin this new adventure.

Comments?

E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.

Another neat insight from First Corinthians 7 – verse 7 says, “…each man has his own gift from God…” God has placed us and gifted us perfectly for the assignment He is giving us.

This article originally published on July 25, 2007.