Love to hear from and know who is listening
I must begin by giving credit where credit is due. The content of this devotional is for the most part the creation of Pamela Crim of Big Life Devotional's. I have modified it slightly to fit my life experiences but the idea is hers. Many times bad things happen in 3’s. I’m not superstitious, but I am also fully aware when the Poop Parade shows up in your life, things start to stink. You know, the Poop Parade. The Crap Circus. It’s one thing after another, going wrong, falling apart, and piling up against you. Why can’t things just go right? Why can’t life just calm down and be normal for a minute? Let me tell you why … God uses messes to make his masterpiece. Some things simply grow better in the presence of crap. Some things only reach their full potential when the seemingly bad stuff is piled on. After all, you do realize CRAP IS FERTILIZER, right?
A while back who ever was farming the land just south of town decided to spread chick poop on the field. I saw the spreader trucks making their way back and forth across the field through the manure on the field. Literally truck loads full of chicken poop. One after another, loaded with the stinkiest, crappiest of crap you can imagine. The entire south side of town stunk so bad you could barely breath. It was all the talk on social media. Eventually the smell did pass, and then you know what happened next? Yes, growth. Crazy, abundant, new growth. The fields were transformed, and it was because of the Poop Parade earlier. Could your life be in the process of being transformed right now? Look around. Has the Crap Circus invaded and you’ve been declared Ring Master? Have the manure spreaders arrived and began spreading crap all over your life. If so, it means you’re getting ready to GROW! I know you think you would have made the necessary changes without this crap, but the truth is, you wouldn’t have. Sometimes God has to smack us right on the between the eyes get us to see the effects of what we’ve been doing and how we’ve been living. He has to wake us up, and God in all of his loving wisdom knows that we aren't waking up with a gentle nudge. It’s going to take a dump truck, and more than one!
The story of Joseph is one of my favorites. I love it so much because it perfectly shows the unfolding of God’s good plans in the middle of a Poop Parade that just didn't seem to stop. First his brothers grew jealous of him and sold him off as a slave. He becomes a favored slave to his master, then the master’s crazy wife wants to hook up, and when Joseph refuses she claims rape and has him thrown in prison. He becomes a favored prisoner to the warden, then he is forgotten. Every time he gets a break, the next bad thing happens. When you come to the end of Joseph’s story, you see the growth created by all he has gone through. You see the leader he has become because of the crap he has walked through. Now he’s in a position to save lives. In a position to supply food for people who literally were going to starve without his help. And some of those people were the very people that called in the Poop Parade in the very beginning. They were his brothers. The ones who had sold him into slavery because they were jealous of their father’s love for him. And now, after slavery and imprisonment, after being sold and forgotten, after being accused and abused, Joseph is the masterpiece God created him to be and he stands before his brothers.
Genesis 50:20 NIV You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
What is God growing you into? Here come the dump trucks with their piles of poop. Remember, it’s not a punishment. This is your fertilizer because God knows the pote
