The experiences you had before you committed your life to Christ, including things you regret, can be redeemed, and put to good use. Before Paul met Christ on the Damascus road, his life had been dedicated to the study of Old Testament law. ‘I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault’ (vv. 5-6 NLT). Looking back, Paul may have considered his years of study as a Pharisee to be wasted. But God had prepared him to show the Jews how Christ was the fulfilment of the Old Testament Scriptures he knew so well. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that God doesn’t begin working in our lives until the day we come to know Christ as Saviour. Scripture says that He ‘foreknew’ us, meaning He chose and prepared us long before we ever met Him (see Romans 8:29-30). David says that God wrote out all the days of his life before they ever came to pass (see Psalm 139:16), and that’s true for you. God is at work in your life in ways you’re unaware of. Even when you’re unable to notice Him at work, He is always active in you, causing His good pleasure. ‘For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure’ (Philippians 2:13 NKJV). Faith changes the question ‘Is God at work?’ into a declarative statement of faith: ‘God is at work!’

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.