A Different Time, A Different Place

Have you ever wished you had been born in a different era? How about a different place? I've always had a fondness for all things old! I love antiques and historical buildings. I often imagine what the people were like who once owned these possessions. I've wondered what it would be like to live on a farm having to work from sun up until sun down surviving off your own hard labor in the fields. I have dreamed of a more simple life where there were no means of quick transportation, TV, computers, internet, or shopping malls. I have wished that my children did not have to grow up in this scary world filled with predators lurking around every corner. Living in the information age you can invite someone into your own home without even knowing it via the internet. I have worried over the mistakes my children will make in their youth and how quickly those mistakes can go viral and forever be public. I've questioned why I was born in the year I was to raise children in this particularly difficult time and place. I'm sure at some point we have all pondered why we were born at exactly the time we were as well as why we were born in the specific place we were. Then there are other days where I just can't believe how lucky I am to have been born in a time where God's word is at my fingertips. We have the ability to travel the world and see all of God's creation in only a matter of hours. I don't have to labor in fields all day to be able to provide food for my family. I have all the amenities that this modern day and age can offer like dishwashers, washing machines, refrigerators and the list goes on! Not only was I born in one of the most abundant countries but also in a state where its foundation was laid by forefathers who put their faith and trust in The almighty God. I mean I have grown up in the Bible Belt! How easy it should be for me to believe in my almighty Heavenly Father! What about those who did not have this privilege? What about those who literally have been born into a different time and place? Those who have been born into poverty, third world countries and have lived to the age of 30 and never heard the mention of God's name? On these particular days I find myself again questioning why. Why me God? Why am I so blessed while others face much greater daily challenges than me? But...what if...what if God knew exactly what it would take to draw me closer to Him? Scripture tells me that God knew me before He formed me in my mother's womb! “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5. That means He knew before He even created me that I would choose to follow and love Him. Knowing all that God knows, is it possible that He placed me exactly where I am because He knew exactly what it would take to draw me closer to Him? He knew it would take providing me with Christian parents who would first introduce me to God and His Holy Word. He also knew that it would take years of disobedience before I would finally fall to my knees to hear Him. He ultimately knew it would take me becoming a wife and mother to make me realize I NEEDED Him! For others, it might take completely different circumstances. Some of you were not raised in Christian homes but you heard the precious gospel from a friend, teacher or complete stranger. Some of you might not be a parent but maybe have found that you needed a savior through trials at your job. Sadly others of you found God while in the midst of great tragedy while some might still be searching for The Savior. I know for certain that whatever the circumstances are God tells us this, "And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for 'In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’" Acts 17:26-28 What a comfort to know that God knew me before he even formed my inward parts! What a comfort to know that for my children as well! He knew that we would live in THIS time and in THIS place and that brings me such joy that I was meant to live in 2013! I was meant to raise my children in the information age, as scary as it can be at times. He also meant for me to live in this awesome time period where everything is at our fingertips, including God's word! God is not far from any of us. What will it take for you to seek God? If you know Him then you have experienced His blessing in your life however, if you do not know Him you could very well be missing out on all that He created you for! Dearest Heavenly Father, oh how my heart sings that I have found my way toward you! Thank you Father for blessing me, for creating me and determining the allotted periods and boundaries of my dwelling place! I praise you for all that you are and for making me your offspring! I love you and pray that I can bring your name honor and glory all the days of my life here in this world, in THIS time and in THIS place! Amen