Do you know what happened in the year 1380? I didn’t either, until I took a look to see what major events took place. For the whole year, across the entire globe, “the Google” only listed three things: 1. In July, Thomas of Buckingham’s invasion army lands on Calais (no idea who that dude is); 2. In September, Moscow’s great monarch Dimitri defeats the Mongols, beginning the decline of the Tatars (haven’t heard about this, either); and 3. In November King Charles VI of France was crowned at age 12 (hey, I’ve at least heard of France!).
Granted, there were a lot fewer people in the world to make news in 1380 than there are in 2024 (about 350 million then vs. ~8 billion now), but still, there were only three things that happened on the world stage for the whole year? I feel like we have three major things happen on the world stage every few days in 2024.
Know what’s really neat to think about? Before he even breathed life into Adam, God had history all mapped out. He knew what was going to happen and when. I wouldn’t claim that He did it this way, but imagine if God had a mugshot-style photo of every human that would ever exist, and He had them all hanging up in His office. He also had a huge whiteboard with an immense timeline. He went through and made conscious decisions about when on that timeline He wanted each of those people to be alive and breathing. “Let’s see, I’ve got two souls left; I’ve got an opening for a Philistine in 1010 B.C. and I need someone to be an American in 2024 A.D.” He made his choice. One ended up being a Philistine that cornered King Saul on his last day, and the other ended up being you.
Now this probably isn’t what happened, but it’s sort of an “outside the box” way of making the point that God knew what He was doing and clearly put some thought into the undertaking of selecting at what point in history you were supposed to be on the stage. Young or old, God made a conscious decision to have you be the exact age you are, right now in 2024, so that you could fit in with His plan.
The people you influence, the places that you go, and the things that you do…all of them are pre-known by the Lord, and He selected you to be the one doing those things in your lifetime. It’s not an accident that you’re in the here and now. God hand-picked you to be here for a reason.
In this life you’re going to do things that please God, and you’re going to do things that miss the mark. It’s important to pursue the life God wants you to, but it’s also important not to stop trying when you mess up. God saw your successes and your failures coming long ago, and uses them both for the stories He’s stitching together. Use your gifts and your time here in 2024 to tee up events in 2025 and beyond, so that Christ-followers who come behind us will be better equipped or gain otherwise-unlikely opportunities to spread the news of Christ with those around them.
Lord, though I may not understand why, You’ve placed me right here in this time for a reason. Please help me live my life in a way that honors You, help me not get hung up on details I don’t need to know, and be blessed by peeks into the ways You’re using me in Your grand story. Amen.