Picture, if you will, a speaker testing a microphone to see if it works. The speaker taps it and says, “Testing, testing.” Have you ever thought of tough moments as God testing us to find if we’re working well so we can shout out to the world?
God may test us to grow our faith, confidence, courage, and boldness. He wants us ready to do tasks, such as:
Here’s a simple example when testing changed my ways.
Years ago, I had a habit in grocery stores. If I saw someone I recognized in an aisle, I’d zip past that lane and come back to it later. After one shopping trip and I’d avoided a woman I knew, I received a heavy conviction that what I’d done was wrong. I realized the person I avoided might have needed to talk to someone that day. God put her before me, but I had refused to approach her.
I confessed my habit to my small prayer breakfast group. I told them I couldn’t shake off how awful I felt that I had refused to speak to the woman. One lady captured my attention and spoke with kindness. She said my failure to speak to the woman and my resulting guilt may have been God’s way of preparing me for the future. In an upcoming outing, God wanted me to speak and listen to someone He placed before me. I received an epiphany. In His mercy, God was helping me to give up a habit which put up roadblocks for me to minister to the people He set before me.
The next time I was in a grocery store, I spotted a friend. I marched over to her and listened to her story.
What are other tasks might God test us on to prepare us for His future work?
A full-time writer and speaker, Zoe M. McCarthy, author of The Putting Green Whisperer, The Invisible Woman in a Red Dress, Gift of the Magpie, and Calculated Risk, writes contemporary Christian romances involving tenderness and humor. Believing opposites distract, Zoe creates heroes and heroines who learn to embrace their differences. When she’s not writing, Zoe enjoys her five grandchildren, teaching Bible studies, leading workshops on writing, knitting and crocheting shawls for a prayer shawl ministry, and canoeing. She lives with her husband in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Zoe blogs regularly at www.zoemmccarthy.com.
The Putting Green Whisperer
Suddenly unemployed, Allie Masterson returns home to Cary, North Carolina where she caddies for the father on the PGA Seniors Tour. There, she encounters a man who possesses an alluring gift of reading the contours of the green. Fascinated with his uncanny ability, Allie is excited to meet the Green Whisperer—until she discovers that the easygoing caddy is actually Shoo Leonard, the boy who teased her relentlessly when they were kids. Despite Allie's reservations, when Shoo is faced with having to overcome a hand injury, she agrees to use her sports science degree to become his trainer...and then she falls for him.
Shoo Leonard is grateful to Allie for her singular determination to get him ready for the PGA tour, but he isn't ready for anything more. Still raw from a broken engagement and focused on his career, he's content to be her fist-bumping buddy...but then he falls for her.
What seems like a happily-ever-after on the horizon takes a turn when Allie decides she's become a distraction to Shoo's career. Is it time for her to step away or can The Putting Green Whisperer find the right words to make her stay?
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| Zoe M. McCarthy |
God may test us to grow our faith, confidence, courage, and boldness. He wants us ready to do tasks, such as:
- Teach a Bible study.
- Write a Bible study.
- Write a book that depicts a hero or heroine who handles conflict, testing, and challenges in a godly manner.
- Minster to someone who is confused or hurting.
- Give beyond tithing to charities that help others and share the gospel.
- Discipline our children so they can handle the challenges of life when they become adults.
- Do what's right when doing so will cause us hardships us.
Here’s a simple example when testing changed my ways.
Years ago, I had a habit in grocery stores. If I saw someone I recognized in an aisle, I’d zip past that lane and come back to it later. After one shopping trip and I’d avoided a woman I knew, I received a heavy conviction that what I’d done was wrong. I realized the person I avoided might have needed to talk to someone that day. God put her before me, but I had refused to approach her.
I confessed my habit to my small prayer breakfast group. I told them I couldn’t shake off how awful I felt that I had refused to speak to the woman. One lady captured my attention and spoke with kindness. She said my failure to speak to the woman and my resulting guilt may have been God’s way of preparing me for the future. In an upcoming outing, God wanted me to speak and listen to someone He placed before me. I received an epiphany. In His mercy, God was helping me to give up a habit which put up roadblocks for me to minister to the people He set before me.
The next time I was in a grocery store, I spotted a friend. I marched over to her and listened to her story.
What are other tasks might God test us on to prepare us for His future work?
 |
| About the Author |
A full-time writer and speaker, Zoe M. McCarthy, author of The Putting Green Whisperer, The Invisible Woman in a Red Dress, Gift of the Magpie, and Calculated Risk, writes contemporary Christian romances involving tenderness and humor. Believing opposites distract, Zoe creates heroes and heroines who learn to embrace their differences. When she’s not writing, Zoe enjoys her five grandchildren, teaching Bible studies, leading workshops on writing, knitting and crocheting shawls for a prayer shawl ministry, and canoeing. She lives with her husband in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Zoe blogs regularly at www.zoemmccarthy.com.
The Putting Green Whisperer
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| The Putting Gree Whisperer by Zoe M. McCarthy |
Suddenly unemployed, Allie Masterson returns home to Cary, North Carolina where she caddies for the father on the PGA Seniors Tour. There, she encounters a man who possesses an alluring gift of reading the contours of the green. Fascinated with his uncanny ability, Allie is excited to meet the Green Whisperer—until she discovers that the easygoing caddy is actually Shoo Leonard, the boy who teased her relentlessly when they were kids. Despite Allie's reservations, when Shoo is faced with having to overcome a hand injury, she agrees to use her sports science degree to become his trainer...and then she falls for him.
Shoo Leonard is grateful to Allie for her singular determination to get him ready for the PGA tour, but he isn't ready for anything more. Still raw from a broken engagement and focused on his career, he's content to be her fist-bumping buddy...but then he falls for her.
What seems like a happily-ever-after on the horizon takes a turn when Allie decides she's become a distraction to Shoo's career. Is it time for her to step away or can The Putting Green Whisperer find the right words to make her stay?
