Preparation: Embracing the Process of Becoming Like Christ

Key Verse:
"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6).

Understanding Preparation

In The Green Letters, Miles Stanford leads us through a vital truth: God's preparation in our lives is as essential as His purpose for us. Without preparation, there can be no fulfillment of His eternal plan to conform us to the image of His Son. Yet, preparation often involves uncomfortable and humbling experiences, designed to show us the insufficiency of self and the sufficiency of Christ.

God uses need—our awareness of inadequacy—to draw us into dependence upon Him. In this, we come to know that every failure, struggle, and season of waiting is part of His gracious process of forming Christ in us.

A Parable of the Potter’s Kiln

Imagine a master potter working with a lump of clay. At first, the clay resists the potter’s hands, but he patiently presses and shapes it, removing impurities and creating something beautiful. Once the shape is complete, the potter places the clay in a kiln, where intense heat solidifies its form and brings out its true character.

Similarly, God is the Master Potter, and we are His clay. Our circumstances—the needs, trials, and even failures we face—are the heat of the kiln, solidifying His work in us. Though the process may seem painful, the result is a vessel fit for His glory, ready to hold His presence and serve His purpose.

Key Principles of Preparation

1. Needs Are Essential for Growth
   Stanford emphasizes that our spiritual hunger and felt needs are the catalysts for growth. We cannot appropriate the fullness of Christ until we see our insufficiency. “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6).

2. Failure as God’s Tool
   Personal failure reveals the futility of self-effort and turns us to reliance on Christ alone. Peter’s denial of Christ, followed by restoration, illustrates how brokenness prepares us for true ministry. “It is those who have plumbed the depths of failure to whom God invariably gives the call to shepherd others” (J.C. Metcalfe).

3. The Long Process of Sanctification
   God’s work in us is gradual, involving both tearing down and building up. Preparation often feels like a struggle, but this is the Holy Spirit exposing the self-life and replacing it with Christ-life. “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).

4. Preparation for Service
   Just as growth requires hunger, effective ministry requires encountering hearts truly in need. Watchman Nee writes, “God does not set us here first of all to preach or to do any work for Him. The first thing for which He sets us here is to create in others a hunger for Himself.”

Application for Daily Living

1. Recognize God’s Hand in Your Needs
   When you feel weak, inadequate, or overwhelmed, remember that God is using those very feelings to draw you closer to Him. Embrace the truth of “Not I, but Christ” (Galatians 2:20).

2. Submit to the Process
   Instead of resisting the trials and struggles God allows, ask Him to show you how these are shaping you into the image of Christ. Trust His promise that “all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28).

3. Wait on His Timing
   Growth takes time. Be patient with yourself as God works. The oak tree takes longer to grow than the squash, but its strength and endurance are unmatched.

4. Focus on the Goal
   Fix your eyes on Christ, who has already walked the road of suffering and triumph. Rest in the assurance that He will bring you through every trial to share in His victory.

Final Thought

God’s preparation is an act of love. He tears down only to build up, allowing us to see our deep need for Christ so that we might live fully in Him. As we embrace His process, we grow in faith, rest in His sufficiency, and become vessels for His glory.

Prayer:
Father, I thank You for the work You are accomplishing in my life. I rest in the knowledge that Your preparation, even when it feels difficult or prolonged, is part of Your perfect plan. I trust in Your sufficiency and embrace the process of becoming more like Christ. May my life reflect Your glory as I yield to Your shaping hands. Amen.