devotional

How to Know God is about to Do a Big Thing

Michael Zigarelli

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Recently I flew to Nashville to work on a project with LifeWay, one of the bigger players in Christian publishing. I was on my way to record an audio book and possibly to negotiate a deal for a future project. It was a high-potential trip and I needed to be on top of my game for it to be a success.

But I really knew God was about to do something big when, on the plane, a very attractive woman in the seat next to mine struck up a conversation that culminated, one hour later, in a roguish proposition from her. We had spent the flight engaged in innocuous dialogue about our kids and about her business, but just as the flight began to descend, so did the conversation. Leaning a little closer to me, she began to lament her lackluster marriage, how her husband had “grown old” on her, and how much fun she used to be in college. Then she pulled out her business card, wrote her cell phone number on the back, and asked me to call her so “we can have lunch in Nashville and…uh…talk more about our kids.” She also added that I shouldn’t use the office number on the front of the card, since she worked with her husband.

I say that the Flight 2219 incident indicated God was about to do something big because Satan tries his pathetic little tricks just before the inflection points of our life—at those times when God is about to change our trajectory. As I left the airport that day (without the business card, mind you), I had a confident expectation that it was going to be an extraordinary couple of days. And it was. God sent me home with not one, but two new book contracts.

Have you seen this dynamic at work in your life? Or do you now? If you’re experiencing similar trials, consider whether they may in fact be a pathetic little trick, courtesy of the Enemy himself. Consider whether they’re an indicator that God is doing a big thing in your life. Indeed, as we get closer and closer to the big things of God, you’ll experience more and more incursions from below. Watch for these. See the obstacles, temptations and fears for what they really are. Then, with confident expectation, co-labor with God to defeat them.

And despite the challenging circumstances, try to rejoice! Remember, Satan's at work because God is at work.

  

Michael Zigarelli is an Associate Professor at Messiah College and the editor of Christianity9to5.org.