God went first

The providence of God fascinates me. While I certainly don't understand it completely, my faith grows by leaps and bounds any time I look back and meditate on how many times God "went first" in my life and used opportunities in my life to shape and mold me into who I am today and will be in the future.   Since He is not bounded by time, God is present in the past, present, and future as though they all happened at once.   While He does not make choices for us, He allows our choices to be used for our growth and benefit.   When we seek Him with our whole hearts, He is gracious to make sure we find Him.    When we see only the trees, He sees the whole forest and our pathway through it. 

I grew up in Louisiana, where my dad owned a fabric store and I attended school with the same group of friends from elementary school through high school, since we were in a Magnet school.  Once, during a school project, my friend and I did a career report on a small college in East Tennessee (Milligan College) that specialized in education, which was a dream for both of us. 

Fast forward a year or so, and my parents informed us that we were moving from Louisiana to a yet-undetermined location in Tennessee or North Carolina.    While I was devastated to leave everything and everyone I knew, God went first. 

While trying to find a place to live, we visited several cities Dad had researched, met with school district administrators, and looked for homes and areas.    On our way back to Louisiana with no settled decision of where we would live, we came to Johnson City, TN, where a rainbow bridged the mountains.   Long story short, several things "just happened" to fall in place, and Johnson City became our new home.   God went first. 

During my senior year of high school, a friend wanted to visit Milligan College (sound familiar?), which was only a few minutes from the town where we "just happened" to end up, and I agreed to accompany her so she didn't have to go alone.  She hated it from the moment we stepped on campus, and I loved it.  I felt like I was "coming home."   I was blessed to be able to attend there.   God went first.

While at Milligan, I began doing deeper study of the Bible, and I began to see things there that I had never heard before.   My roommate and I took a weekend to devote ourselves to Bible study, and I came out convinced of things I needed to do in order to obtain salvation.  For the first time, I understood what was required of me and that I needed to be baptized for the remission of my sins and salvation of my soul.    I couldn't find a single person to help me or to explain the truth, but God went first.   A few weeks later, my path "just happened" to cross paths with a member of the church (who is now my husband).    I posed my questions to him, and he was able to answer them straight from Scripture.    Not long after, I was baptized for the remission of my sins and added to the church.  God went first and was waiting for me. 

A year or so later when I was attending services with a local congregation and Jeremy was back home for work, I was struggling to find my place and to make friends in the congregation, and another college student stayed on my case until I agreed to participate in some activities.  God went first (after all, He planned the church - His Kingdom- before the foundation of the world), and I found friends more faithful than any I had ever known. 

Fast forward many years, and God continues to "go first."   He has prepared so many paths for me that I never imagined.  I am so thankful for Him always preceding me in the things that matter and waiting patiently for me to catch up. 

Most importantly, I am thankful for how He has always "gone first."  Even His son "went first" so that I might follow later.    May we always follow anywhere He "goes first."

*If you have any questions about the salvation available to us because Christ went first into suffering, into death, and into eternal life, please ask!*