Over the weekend, I listened to a sermon series by Craig Groeschel titled “The Book of Ruth.” Throughout the series, Craig talks on the concept of the “providence of God,” which is when God uses natural circumstances to bring about His supernatural will. He uses the Book of Ruth as an example, since it contains “no physical miracles or parting of the Red Sea,” but you are able to see the providence of God. He explains that it is best understood when you look backwards. When you start with Jesus and work backwards through his lineage, you see evidence of the providence of God. Jesus came from Joseph and Mary, who came from Jacob and Mathew, who came from descendant after descendant, until you reach a guy named Obed, who was born of Ruth and Boaz. God was working the whole time, and it was only made clear when looking backwards. The significance of Ruth being encouraged to leave Moab to go to Bethlehem was not evident in that chapter of her life. But knowing that decision rippled into a series of decisions that brought us to the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, the significance becomes indisputable.

After listening to The Book of Ruth, I listened to a sermon given that Sunday by Pastor Anthony, which was all about how God works through words, service, and faith, to encourage us to take a next step. After reflecting on both sermons, I realized that the moments of encouragement I know I’ve experienced in my own life are evidence of the providential power of God. So I decided to work backwards and bring to life how God was working through people the entire time to bring me to the chapter I am in today. I may not have seen it in the moment, but reflecting back, it was there the whole time.

My timeline activity example:

*From as long as I can remember, I was encouraged by my family to center faith in my life.

*October 2022- I was feeling lost and I knew I was missing something major in my life. I was encouraged by online podcasts/ sermons and the faith of others to begin a search for what I was missing. I found Hoboken Grace and decided to come to a service on my own one Sunday.

*Annah, who was serving in first impressions that morning, encouraged her roommate Jayne to sit next to me during the service. Jayne was such an encouragement after the service, inviting me to Friday coffee with girls from church, inviting me to join her dinner group, and inviting me back to church with her the following Sunday. She allowed God to work through her that day and it completely changed the course of my life.

*January 2023-I was encouraged by my dinner group girls, who were all serving on teams at HG, to begin serving on the Grace Kids team.

I was also encouraged to serve in Florida on a faith-based missions trip.

*February 2023- I was encouraged by those who chose to publicly proclaim their faith through the step of Baptism. Witnessing others being baptized as well as the decision of my friend Annah to get baptized, encouraged me to take the step as well. My family and friends were all there to love and support me that day and I felt even more encouraged to continue growing my relationship with Jesus.

*January 2024- The love of my dinner group girls and the constant encouragement of my leaders, Heidi and Jayne, encouraged me to begin to step into a dinner group leadership role.

I shared this with my group and decided we could all look backwards on our own journeys. This activity served as a way to bring to life the times we were encouraged to take a step of faith. In doing so, we created a timeline that left it undeniable that we serve a loving and good God who is constantly at work in our lives, bringing us to the current chapter we find ourselves in. It was incredible to see how God worked specifically and uniquely in each and every girl's life, working through people to encourage each and every step. It was a perfect way to learn every girl's story and what brought them to Hoboken Grace and our dinner group that night. Everyone had a different story to tell, but all shared the common theme- God uses natural circumstances to bring about His supernatural purpose and will.

Everyone’s timelines looked different and portrayed different decisions and steps in their lives. If the steps had been looked at standing alone, it would have been easy to write them off as mere coincidences or luck, or even moments of unimportance. But when the timelines came to life, it was evident that the steps taken by each and every girl were the result of a loving and intentional God.