God Lined It Up.
Oh my goodness! God is INCREDIBLE!!! Obviously we all know that but do you ever have those moments that remind you of exactly how incredible He truly is? Those moments that make you stop and say “Wow. The God who can do ALL that, He’s the God who loves me, He’s the God I serve!” Incredible!
Yesterday my church had a big grand opening celebration and lemme tell ya, that was one of those moments for me. I’ll start at the beginning and explain with a little Story Time With Natalie. My church is a relatively new church plant called Faith Journey Church and we’ve only been around for about a year and a half. Some of us used to joke that we were actually called “secret basement church” because we would meet every Sunday morning in my cousin’s basement. Well we outgrew the basement and moved into a new building about 2 months ago and yesterday we had an official grand opening and building dedication! During the service, there was an open time for testimonies and people got to share what the church means to them and how they’ve seen God at work in it. And WOW! What a story! What a journey we all went on to get here!
Lately my favorite phrase has been “God lined it up.” (maybe you’ve noticed in my past posts that I use that phrase A LOT haha) I honestly don’t even know where this came from, if it’s something I heard somewhere or if I sorta just made it up. I have no clue. But those four words mean so much to me and as everyone was sharing yesterday, I was struck again and again by how accurate those words are.
God lined it up. Picture a timeline where all the events are in order in a nice neat line, each one happening so that the next one can follow. That’s what God does. He lines things up. He makes it happen at just the right time.
Over and over, in every testimony that was shared in our new building yesterday, those words rang true. God lined it up. God did this.
From Eric, one of the elders, sharing how he opened a can of worms (the idea of planting a church) during a hunting trip and those four men he shared with became the core group planting the church. God lined it up.
From Kenny, my cousin and one of the elders, sharing how before they even had the idea of using his basement, he knew the church was going to need a space to call its own and as he was driving by a local farm, he got the urge to call the owner and ask if he knew of any buildings in the area. Turns out the owner just had a church move out of one of the buildings he owns: the new building we were celebrating yesterday! God lined it up.
From one of my newest and closest friends sharing how even though she may go through some really difficult and painful times in life, those times can still be a gift from God because of everyone else He surrounded her with to help her through it. God lined it up.
From countless people sharing how they were in a season of change and transition, being called away from one place but not sure where to go next, somehow they found out about our “secret basement church” and now they’re involved and regular attenders. I fall into this category and I can attest to the fact that without a doubt, God lined it up.
And there were so many other testimonies shared and countless others that weren’t spoken, but what they all have in common is that God lined it up. God did it. He knew what was coming and He lined up the events to work out perfectly for what He had planned.
What’s even greater is that He doesn’t just do that for my church. He didn’t just do that for this one group of people, this one event. He does it for everyone and everything, everyday. So many people say they can’t see God at work in their lives, but just because they can’t see Him doesn’t mean He isn’t there. You can’t see gravity but does that mean it stops working? Of course not! Gravity never stops working! If it did, surely we would all take notice. God’s the same way!
Another one of the people who shared yesterday (his name is Shane) said how it’s only been since he starting coming to our church that he’s truly developed a passion for God. And he explained how there are so many little things that God does for us that we don’t even notice. Did the sun come up this morning? Yep! God did that. Did our atmosphere keep us from getting pelted with all kinds of space junk? Yep! God did that. Is our planet situated at the perfect distance from the sun so we can survive without burning up or freezing to death? Yep! God did that. (here’s an article that explains even more of this cool science stuff that God has lined up for us!)
If we would simply open our eyes and give credit where credit is due, we would see God’s hand in absolutely everything. Like the song by 7enth Time Down says “God is on the move” (side note, a couple years ago, my cousin took a video of her young daughter singing this song in the car and I still picture that every time this song comes on! Adorable!) God is on the move and He is at work lining things up EVERY SINGLE DAY!
And not only that, but think back to the gospel. The story of Jesus. That one man fulfilled over 300 prophecies. The chances of that happening are 1 in a ginormously huge number, so basically, it’s impossible! (this article talks about the actual number for that chance and a whole bunch of other crazy incredible cool things about Jesus!) And yet Jesus did it. He did all of it. If that doesn’t scream GOD LINED IT UP, then I don’t know what does.
So I challenge you to look for what God has lined up for you. What has He put on your timeline? How has He been orchestrating the events and people and situations and conversations in your life for His glory and His purposes?
Even this post has His hand all over it. I haven’t written in awhile (student teaching has been keeping me SUPER busy!) Even yesterday in church I wasn’t planning on writing this, but then last night, I started to feel like I should. Didn’t know when I would find the time though, but then wouldn’t ya know it, school got out early today because of the snow. Coincidence? I think not! God lined it up!
So open your eyes!
Our God is incredible and He is at work! Find something that you can look at and say:
GOD LINED IT UP.
