Connecting the Dots

Last night I shared with my Red Deer congregation the journey that has brought me to the place where my daughter and I are going to Mexico on a mission this summer. A whole pile of random events in my life were just like scattered dots on a page. I had forgotten a lot of things that God has done in my life and now that I see them coming together into a picture that God is creating by connecting the dots... wow!
I am first of all humbled by it all. That God has been so into the details of my life since I was just a lad gives me pause because He is the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe. It seems all so unreal that such a Being could be that interested and involved in one of His billions of creatures. When it hits me with such clarity that He has been working a masterpiece of His grace in my lowly life I actually start to weep in unbelief.
Not only do I feel humbled but also very convicted. God having a plan for my life places demands upon me that I didn't see before. Not in a slavish kind of way. But I do feel very compelled to attend to His will and obey. Was I just blind to what was going on all this time or did He wait until the timing was just so before turning the lights on? At any rate, there is a driving sense of responsiblity to embrace and engage in what God is calling me to do. I call it conviction.
But the feeling is more one of inspired. I am inspired by God's regard for me. Inspired by His vision for meeting the needs of hurting people. Inspired by the doors of opportunity He opens to me for service in Mexico and doors here in Red Deer that are flying open in conjunction with it. God's kingdom mission on this earth is awesome. I love what it's doing to my heart right now. I pray it spreads around the church in Red Deer like a fire. I happen to know that God is just as busy painting brush strokes on the canvasses of everyone else's lives.
Every now and then we just have to stop and take time to connect the dots. Get the picture?!