Just a Random Page in a Book

We all have those things that happen in life that when we think about them, we think that it couldn't get more random. People popping into your life from the past, meeting new people, realizing small connections between friends that you thought would never know each other, finding something in a place that you would never expect it to be; the list could go on and on. Really though, nothing is ever that random. I have been struggling with some things in my life right now that are constantly in the front of my mind. At the same time, I haven't really been laying int o the Word nearly as much as I ought to. Well, this morning the Lord was really tugging on my heart to do so. I could have just sat in my room and listened to music or watched some TV in the extra hour I had before work. Instead, after much tugging from the Lord, I finally decided to pick up my book and read. I love this book but haven't read it in some time. I couldn't remember what part of the book I was on so picking it up again and starting to read made the chapter seem so random. I wasn't even in the beginning of a chapter making it even more random. I started to read and a few minutes later hit this paragraph:

"Nothing is random with our heavenly Father. He is working everything together in our stories to conform to the ultimate purpose of his story (Ephesians 1:11). God is both author and editor. Our lives are not spontaneously thrown together as collections of unrelated short stories. A large story continues to unfold, written before the world began (Psalm 139:16; Ephesians 1:3-6). God is making each of us a living epistle to be read by the watching world-a testimony to his goodness and grace. What is his final purpose? What is his goal? On an individual level, to make us more like Jesus (Romans 8:28-30). And we are never more like Jesus than when we love like Jesus.
Though his ways are not our ways (thankfully), God's plan is perfect and his timing is Swiss."
-Objects of His Affection by: Scotty Smith pg. 130

I don't know if this meant to you as much as it did for me but WOW! I really needed to be reminded that everything happens for a reason. Life isn't as random as we make think it is. The things that I am going through now, are all meant to make me more like Christ and to bring glory to the Lord. They make me stronger and help me to grow in so many ways. Not only do they help me grow, but t hey help me to see how amazing the God that I serve really is. One of the things that I am dealing with deals a whole lot with God's timing. I strongly, strongly dislike waiting on God. It is one of the hardest things to do! I want everything to happen in my time. I so frequently forget Ecclesiastes 3:11-"Everything is made beautiful in his timing". So all of these things that seem to be pulling me in so many different directions in life aren't so random. They fit into my life so well that it blows my mind. This is just one small piece of the puzzle that God uses to make me who I am and to ultimately show His love through my story. He is an amazing God that can and will use every little detail for his story. Timing and all plays a role.