Did you know God works good things into our lives through patterns? There’s always a pattern to God’s work.

Know the pattern – trust the work.

If you don’t know the pattern, you may question what’s happening in your life.

Here’s the good news: The pattern is clearly spelled out in God’s word.

Now, here’s the bad news: You won’t like how it starts. Ever.

So, here’s God’s pattern of work – it begins with problems. Always.

Romans 5: 3-5, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”

That’s a pattern. It starts bad and leads somewhere good. It’s how God works and how we grow.

Think about what a seed must go through to grow and become more. A seed must first be planted into the ground. Do you know what it feels like to be planted? Girl, it feels a whole lot like being stuck. It feels like darkness. It feels like death. But never forget it’s for a purpose and that purpose follows a pattern.

After the seed is planted, then it must break. Yes, a breaking happens in that darkness where it is buried. It breaks open, and from that breaking a root shoots out, going deeper. After the root comes another shoot breaking out of the seed and rising up out of the dirt. It grows and grows, becoming more and more. Look at any large tree today and remember, it started as a small seed that was buried in darkness, felt like it was dying and forgotten, went through the pain of breaking, then it grew into something beautiful.

Look at the scripture again with the visual of a seed in the ground. “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials (that’s the stuck part – the darkness – the burying), for we know that they help us develop endurance (that’s the root shooting out to grow deeper), and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation (that’s the breakthrough out of the darkness, growing in the light, producing in our purpose.)

My sister, I know this feels like you’re being buried, but this is the beginning of the process of tremendous growth and purpose. This is not just some random hardship come to attack you – this is your planting. There’s beauty to come from this. Trust the gardener of your soul.

Isaiah 58: 11, “The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.”

God will give you what you need. He will grow you. But growing you isn’t always sunshine and cool breezes. Growing you begins with burying and breaking. The seed doesn’t first grow in sweet sunshine, that sweetness comes after the season of wrestling it out in the darkness.

The Message translation helps us understand the 3 part pattern of God’s work in our lives. Look for the 3 parts. Again, this is Romans 5: 3-5:

“There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary – we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit.”

1. Trouble
2. Passionate Patience
3. Alert Expectancy

Then, you have to break a little. You have to go through a transformation that’s simply not easy. This is where you develop passionate patience. I love that term. It’s not just patience. Patience can be a ‘hold on through the misery’. Patience can be a ‘I’m going to hate every second of this until it’s over.’ But passionate patience says ‘I still have hope in the waiting.’ Passionate patience says, ‘God’s doing something in me and I’m trusting this.’ Passionate patience says, ‘This is going to be so worth it so I choose to praise God even while it’s still dark down here, even while I appear stuck, even while I’m hurting. I will praise Him.’

That’s passionate patience. We hold onto our hope. We trust all the more!!!! This trouble will not last forever and with God I’ll come out of this so much better! Can you dare to believe that today? Whatever you’re going through, God is going to use it for good.

You know what that deep belief is – that’s the alert expectancy. That’s expecting God’s going to do something good with this. That’s expecting the breakthrough. That’s expecting the change. That’s expecting God to do something next. That’s hope!!!!! And Romans 5:5 says, “And this hope will not lead to disappointment.”

God is not going to disappoint you in this. You may feel disappointed right now. This trouble may seem like absolute nonsense. This time spent suspended in darkness and breaking may feel like undeserved punishment. But there’s breakthrough beyond this and a sudden growth like you’ve never experienced before. There’s purpose in this. There’s fruit in your future!

God has a loving purpose to accomplish in every allowed and measured trouble that ever touches your life. He may not have orchestrated the trouble – oh that trouble may have come from the pits of hell as an attack, or that trouble may have knocked on your door as a natural result of choices of yours or actions of others, but either way, that trouble has been measured by God and it will be used for a loving purpose. Will you just trust God’s love in everything he allows?

Lord, I trust you have allowed this trouble and you will use it. I will passionately wait as you work out your purposes. I will not give up my hope. It will be protected here within me. I will praise you even when I can’t see it and even when I don’t feel it. I will continually look for you. I will search for your fingerprints on the details of my life, expecting you to do good things.

There’s a pattern to God’s work and it looks like this:

1. Trouble hits.
2. We develop passionate patience as we go through the trouble, trusting God’s plan.
3. We refuse bitterness and hopelessness and we instead choose alert expectancy, believing God is working to grow something good.

And this hope will not lead to disappointment.

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