In this episode, I share more about how this truth has played out in my own life — and the steps you can take to make it real in yours.
I Wasn’t Raised in a Christian Family
👉🏻 In fact, my parents weren’t religious at all. We didn’t even attend church on Easter or Christmas.
Two of my friends came from Christian households. They would initiate conversations with me. I would sometimes attend youth group and Sunday service.
I witnessed God pursuing their hearts.
God tried getting my attention, too. But I was too wounded from my abusive childhood and – despite my exposure to church – didn’t understand who He really is.
💖 God kept pursuing me into my 20s and I finally entered into a deep relationship with Him.
God directed me to attend a specific local church.
❓It didn’t take long before I was hungering for more answers and information than my church was providing.
(As a Christian in general – and as a woman in particular.)
🎁 God provided what I needed – from across the country.
This was the early 2000s when churches were starting to release their sermons as podcasts or YouTube videos. God connected me to such a podcast.
Listening to those sermons felt like being seated before a 7-course, nutritious meal after going hungry.
God used that podcast to lay the solid, biblical foundation I had been searching for.
God Provides What We Need, When We Need It
We see numerous examples of this in the Bible. For example:
God parted the Red Sea so the Israelites could escape the Egyptian army (Exodus 14).
God answered Hannah’s deep longing for a child after a long time of heartbreak and distress, resulting in the birth of the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel).
Jesus specifically met the Samaritan woman at the well to provide her with truth and “living water” (John 4).
Ruth chose to follow her mother-in-law back to her homeland, someplace completely unfamiliar to her. She “happened” to come upon Boaz’s field and ended up marrying him – and being grafted into the lineage of Jesus (Ruth).
After God rescued the Israelites from their long period of slavery in Egypt, He supplied them with the Ten Commandants to help His people begin to know Him on a deeper level – and live more fruitful lives (Exodus 20).
👀 In each of these examples, God saw the brokenness, distress, confusion, and deep needs of His people – including individual women.
🛣️ And He met those needs by providing a new way forward.
God isn’t limited by:
Geography or human forces (like with the Israelites at the Red Sea)
Physiology (like with Hannah)
Cultural barriers (like with the Samaritan woman, as the Jews and Samaritans didn’t like each other)
Life changes such as a death or a move to someplace new (like with Ruth and her mother-in-law)
A lack of information about who God is (like the Israelites after being slaves in Egypt for several generations)
God is the creator of the universe. He is all-seeing, all-knowing, and all-powerful.
🏗️ The things we see as obstacles are not obstacles to Him.
I saw myself as stuck. (And maybe you do, too.) But God connected me with a way forward that I didn’t even know existed.
🩷 God knew my need before I did. (And I’m sure others had that same need.)
So He went ahead of me (and others), nudging a large church on the other side of the country to share their sermons. Then ensured that one of my childhood friends mentioned it to me.
I was equipped with biblical knowledge and wisdom that I still use to this day.
📲 And He’s gone ahead of you and prepared a place – built just for you – called Relate Escape Place
