Small Wonder: A Christmas Devotional JourneySample

Pressure, purpose, presence

Isaiah compares God’s work in our lives to that of a farmer who, to cultivate the best fruit, applies different kinds of pressure to different grains. The wisdom and plans that a farmer employs to cultivate the desired harvest help illustrate the greater, more wonderful plans of God.

Today we pause to marvel at the wisdom and care of our God, ‘whose plan is wonderful, whose wisdom is magnificent’. His plans are not distant or abstract. They are worked out in the soil of our everyday lives.

We may love the idea that God has a plan for us, but we may not enjoy the process behind it. God could have kept Daniel out of the lions’ den, made the wilderness easy for Israel, removed Paul’s thorn, or waited until Joseph and Mary were married – but He didn’t. And we may not know why at the time. Yet through each trial, His purposes were being worked out.

Just as a farmer prepares the ground, God tends to our hearts. Even affliction – though painful – is His threshing tool, loosening us from what hinders and preparing us for fruitfulness. He never overworks the soil. His timing is perfect, His methods wise, His presence constant.

This Advent, may we trust that God is at work – even in our stresses, temptations, and rejections. His plan is unfolding, even today, under the pressures we face.

Prayer

Lord, help me to trust in the wisdom of Your wonderful plans. Help me to see what You want me to learn from the situations and circumstances I’m faced with right now. Do Your work in me today, break up the ground of my heart, and plant Your character within me. And may I come to see the wonder of Your plans for me. Amen.