The last few months have been a turbulent time in our country. We have seen things like the rise of unemployment and an unstable economy, a continuing war in the middle east, and uncertainty in our relationships with other countries and what that might mean for our future and our children’s future. But despite the uncertain world that we're living in, I want to offer you some encouragement.

If you are like me, I am sure that at some point in your life, you have allowed yourself to daydream about what it would be like to live in a different country or in a different time period. There is something that seems to be comforting about the idea of living in simpler times when the world did not seem to be so chaotic. But God has created us all on purpose and with a purpose in mind. We are not here randomly and no matter where you live, God has placed you there for a reason.

In Acts 17:24-28 we see that God has ordained the time and place for all of mankind. It reads as follows: 24"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'

Whether you believe in God or not, it is in Him that you live, move, and breathe. If God willed it, you would cease to exist and just as an earthly father’s children resemble him and has life because of him, we too--as the children of God--have life and resemble the one who created us.

So if you find yourself wishing that you were living in another time or place, be encouraged this week with the knowledge that you were put where you are for a purpose and that God did not accidentally drop you where you are but uniquely placed you there so that you might know Him. God has plans for us all, and He desires that we would seek Him first in our lives and seek to follow the direction that he has laid before us. In Jeremiah God says: “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

So if we take God at His Word--and trust that He indeed has a plan for our lives and that He has uniquely placed us where we are--why would we not seek after His will for our lives and try to understand and find out what God’s plan is, instead of what our plans are? I promise you that God’s plans will always be better and God’s timing will always be better than anything that we can come up with on our own, in our limited wisdom. We read in Proverbs Chapter 3:5,6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." This is a promise of guidance if we are willing to acknowledge Him.

Final Thought: Take time this week to think about the ways that God has appropriately placed you where you are so that you can do two things: First of all, see how God is working in your life and drawing you closer to Him, and secondly, how your unique placement gives you the opportunity to share Christ with others.