acts 17

sarah! i am so glad we are starting this back. thank you so much for posting the first post for the summer. i am going to try to keep up with this better, simply because i have more time this summer than i did during the semester with school.
well let me tell you lately what i've been thinking and how different verses and things have encouraged me. a friend wrote me a letter the other day and shared with me some verses in acts chp 17: 24-29ish. they are so good. i want to type out some of them because they are so great. "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would SEEK GOD, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children'..."
these verses seem sortof trivial at first when you read them. Paul is preaching to people on Mars Hill and is sharing this with them about God and His sovereign rule. the thing that stands out the most to me about these verses, that my friend also pointed out, is that God had appointed His people those boundaries in which He knew they would seek Him and that He knew best for them. with that said, how convicting and humbling and peaceful that we can rest in that! my mind has been restless and my heart has been wandering during all of this wedding season stuff going on with my friends. i have definitely been discontent in ways i didn't know i could be, just because i see so many married couples who are so happy with one another and i long for that so badly. but the amazing thing about these verses that then draws me to my knees in AWE is that God loves us so much that He has placed us where we are in order for us to truly seek Him and He knows in those situations and in our lives that He has sovereign rule over, we would "grope for Him" even though He is NOT FAR OFF FROM EACH OF US! anyway, i thought this was a great depiction of His love and the delight He takes in our lives and His direction for us. i just thought i would share this. i love when i get quotes and verses like this from friends and am able to share them with others. i feel like that is definitely a part of community and the Church.
i'm going to end with a tim keller quote (doesn't exactly relate to my little spill, but nonetheless, it is good!) can't wait for the next post!
"If you know what He has done at infinite cost to himself—He’s put you into a relationship so that you’ll never be rejected by Him—then your motivation when you sin is to go get Him. You want fellowship with Him. When the thing that most assures you is the thing that most convicts you, you’ll be okay because when you’re convicted of sin in a gospel way it drives you toward God. Without the gospel we hate ourselves instead of our sin. Without the gospel we’re motivated through all sorts of awful fear and pride to change and it doesn’t really change our hearts; it just restrains our hearts." — Timothy Keller