[Discoveries] 12-08-07 Life in review -- Matthew 1:2

[Inspiration in Your Inbox]

/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 
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/*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

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