The Plain Brown Wrapping
Posted by Dion Todd August 24th, 2015 12,815 Views 0 Comments
It happened, while they were there, that the day had come that she should give birth. She brought forth her firstborn son, and she wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no room for them in the inn Luke 2:6 WEB.
The greatest gift that God ever gave mankind spent His first hours laying in a feeding trough for animals. Mary wrapped the baby Jesus in strips of cloth herself which meant that it was a lonely birth without others to help her. There was no room for them at the inn. It was a picture of poverty, obscurity, and rejection. The greatest event in history went almost unnoticed by those around it.
God is so secure in Himself that He does not need to impress anyone and His word makes it clear that the pride of a man makes him blind to all that God has for him. The wisdom of man is foolishness to God (1 Cor. 3:19). Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you (James 4:10). God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time (1 Peter 5:6).
How many times have we missed what God has for us because we felt that it was beneath us. Looking back over my life, God gave me the greatest opportunities, wrapped in an humble, plain looking, brown paper wrapping. It looked beneath me and my flesh wanted to complain and tell the people how important that I really was.
Once after being laid off from a high paying job, I ended up drawing unemployment and could not find another job anywhere. I spent a lot of my time alone on the Waccamaw river fishing and listening to the Bible. During the last week of my unemployment, I was fishing and I prayed earnestly, Lord, I need a job. Anything, just open a door. I only want to be able to listen to Your word. Soon after praying I caught the biggest large mouth bass that I had ever caught in my life. It was on the last cast of my last fishing trip that year.
The next day a temp service called and said that they had an opening at Miracle Finishing for a brass polisher and they wanted me to go talk to the manager. The following day, I pulled up in my Toyota Supra wearing a black leather jacket and shades to find that it was a loud, dirty, hole in the wall housed in a hundred year old brick building. All the employees except the manager were temps, addicts, and many almost homeless.
It was extremely hot in August and giant ghetto blasters roared above the already deafening machines in a dimly lit building. Car-sized belt sanders ran with no guards in place and would cut off limbs if you bumped into them. Sometimes the buffing machine would snatch the part away and then fire it back at you, knocking you down. People sometimes smoked pot at the machines, and the manager came in hungover everyday. Everyone there was just living for another Friday to come. It was a dirty, dark, hole-in-the-wall and everyone was covered in black smut from the machines. The job paid a third of what my last job had. Everything in my flesh screamed, No, this is beneath me!
I walked up to the manager and the first thing that he said was, Are you ready to start? Bring something to listen to as it can get really boring here. At that moment the Holy Spirit brought my prayer back to remembrance and said This is what you asked for. Through clenched lips I told the manager Yep.
The turnover rate was infinite because most people did not last a week, many even left before their first lunch break. But I knew that it was Gods will for me to be there, though it was still hard to keep my pride under control. I deserve better than this was always just a thought away.
I soon made it into a game of working for God Himself, and became a model employee. Bright, shining, and always early, my workspace was the cleanest in the building. I went home each day as black as smut from the compound and then when I washed, my skin became a greenish tint from the brass dust. My brother would stop by now and then and ask me, Dion, what in the world are you doing here?, and I would tell him, Its a God thing.
I fasted as much as I ate, listened to the Bible all day, and prayed in the spirit while just grinding out part after part. I started out running 300 parts a day, but was soon running 7,500. It was a mindless task of repetition and it allowed me to meditate on scripture while working, I loved it.
One day I suddenly felt oil being poured over my head and spun around thinking someone was pulling a prank on me, but there was no one there. That was a turning point in my life, and things began to change around me.
I will shorten this up as it is growing long, but when I humbled myself and followed the path that the Lord revealed to me, He raised me up quickly. I went straight to the top and became the manager, then after that He pushed me into my own computer business for the next decade, and then on into ministry using those skills and testimonies that I learned along the way.
A long time later when God began to shut my computer business down and I was unemployed again, I showed up for a church workday event. The only job left was to scrub all the bathrooms and toilets. No one had chosen to do that one. I sensed that God was setting me up and I did it wholeheartedly as if I were working for the Lord. I left those bathrooms sparkling behind me. About a month after, the Lord put me into full-time ministry.
These were humble doors that one would easily avoid, but it was His path. I can honestly say that the humble door leads to a great future and many will pass it by while waiting for the management position to come open they so deserve. Be watchful and guard your mind. Learn that when the flesh begins to balk, that it is probably God beginning to move.
Prayer: Father I seek Your path for me. Help me see through Your eyes and fulfill Your every desire in my life. I yield to You and pray that You guide my every step. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray.