Apostle Paul was in Athens the other day, waiting for Silas and Timothy to join him. While there, Luke records that Paul was vexed in his spirit because the people of Athens worshipped idols. Though some knew there was a higher power, they couldn’t or wouldn’t name it. They literally worshipped an “unknown God” (Acts 17:16-23).
God has you where he wants you.
The passage goes on to recount what Paul said in defence of his gospel there. I find myself going back to this defence, when the Lord hasn’t opened the doors I’ve asked him to or shifted things I needed moved. Paul’s speech at Athens reminds me of God’s sovereignty and omniscience. That he doesn’t only have absolute power but also infinite awareness, understanding, and insight.
God has you where he wants you.
“He Isn’t Far From Any of Us”
Let’s hear Paul’s words to those learned and religious men back in the 1st century. “This God made the world and everything in it. He is Lord of heaven and earth, and he doesn’t live in temples built by human hands. He doesn’t need help from anyone. He gives life, breath, and everything else to all people. From one person God made all nations who live on earth, and he decided when and where every nation would be. God has done all this, so that we will look for him and reach out and find him. He isn’t far from any of us, and he gives us the power to live, to move, and to be who we are. ‘We are his children,’ just as some of your poets have said” (Acts 17:24-28).
Basically, you are where you are because that’s where God wants you to be—it’s also, mind you, exactly where he is too.
“He Gives Us the Power to Live”
Listen. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve cried out to the Lord asking him to move me from certain places, only for him to leave them. But I thank him for letting me know that there’s a reason why he puts us where we are. God is purposeful. He doesn’t waste anything. Though we might want out, God has a plan to work out. And we’re part of it. All of us. You might wish you weren’t born in Malawi. Perhaps you imagine a better life in a different family or among another group of friends. If it were up to you, you’d be Beyoncé—or whoever it is you think lives a life much better than your own.
Wherever you find yourself, seek the Lord.
Here’s the encouragement for you. You are where you are because God wants you to seek him there. Paul is saying: you ended up in that school so that you will look for God; you ended up with that job to seek and serve the Lord in it; you didn’t ask for a troublesome child but the Lord saw fit to give you one so that you might know and glorify him. Wherever you find yourself, seek the Lord.
Everything that has happened up to this point was so that you will look, reach out and find God. The Lord has been at work, with purpose and power. He isn’t far from any of us. And he gives us the power to live, to move, and to be who we are. His fingerprints are all over your life. We just aren’t always paying close enough attention or imagine that God couldn’t really have any reason for bringing us to the point he has. But God is near. He is close. He is right there with you.
