"God sovereignly decrees and designs circumstances so that we end up where he wants us to be even if we don’t have any conscious part in getting there. For example, Paul and Silas found themselves in jail, and the result was the salvation of the jailer and his household (Acts 16:24-34). This was God’s plan, but not Paul’s. God does this often—putting us in places that we did not plan or decide to be." ~John Piper
( “no purposes of [God’s] can be thwarted,” Job 42:2).
Great Grandpa Solomon |
And that is what makes tracing ones genealogy so exciting. The fabric of my mortal experiences are God's sovereign orchestration of my spiritual life, my spiritual ancestors.
My spiritual life has functioned by suggestions in the patterns of those dimensions. It has left me with a clearer vision and sense of purpose, default at arriving at present. God always knows what he is doing.
Some of those Russian/German Mennonite emigrants who arrived in the late 1874s by ship were placed in my story. They in turn were influenced by the spiritual revivals of their day and on the heels of great preachers such as Spurgeon, and other great men of influence in their lives.
Looking back over the generations, I've seen just how God's story has woven my history and those before me to get me to where I am now.
My story is intertwined with my past to make God's story, my story. I am living in the shadow of some great spiritual leaders of my time making up the fabric of my spiritual journey. They in turn were influenced by their spiritual journeys. Just as all human DNA is unique to each person, so is each personal spiritual profile.
One of the Solomon Edigers |
I have alluded to some of these spiritual influences in previous blogs.
"Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand."~Prov.19:21
"Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?"~Isa.43:13
but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand."~Prov.19:21
"Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?"~Isa.43:13
" But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations."~Ps.33:11
the purposes of his heart through all generations."~Ps.33:11
His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?"~Isa.14:27
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