After my husband took me back to my hometown in Indiana last year I did some research of my own. I followed a line back to Governor William Bradford and another back to the Lord Mayor of London. I was feeling pretty special. Here's the thing in case you haven't done it yourself, go back far enough and you're related to someone cool. For instance, the 102 passengers who came over aboard the Mayflower have about 35 million descendents. It's a big club.
If you trace your ancestry back 12 generations, about 400 years,you'll have over 4,000 people who have contributed to making you who you are.
Think about it for a moment. For you to be here just as you are, exactly as God intended for you to be, your bloodline had to remain unbroken since the beginning of time.
For God to "knit you together in your mother's womb" He also would have made sure your ancestors averted deadly disease, survived or avoided accidents and illness, and procreated with the precise people who delivered the DNA you have to you make you his perfect design with the abilities to do whatever it is that he has in store for you.
He did not just throw you together at the last minute to arrive on the scene when you did. He planned millions of decisions, moves, and interactions. People destined to be in your lineage were destined to survive floods, wars, and famines. The carriers of your genes were protected by God long enough to reproduce.
We marvel at the vastness of galaxies and our microscopic mitochondria and so much of creation that reflects the mind boggling power and omniscience of God. When we read the Old Testament we are in awe of His plan for His nation and we see Him perfectly orchestrating events concerning them. In the New Testament we see individuals encountering Christ at precise moments as we watch the story of the Gospels fall into place.
He has also been working miracles throughout history on your behalf. He has woven your story in and out of tribes, nations, plagues, and travels to bring you to the exact place and moment in time you find yourself right now. You are not an accident or random person who just showed up.
Your story has been unfolding all that time, hidden in the dark depths of history through faceless ancestors long forgotten but by God.
Your being on the planet at this exact moment in history is cosmically relevant in ways you cannot begin to understand. If you are feeling small and insignificant then know dear one, that is a lie of the enemy.
Any of us have a very small idea of what our role is in the playing out of history for the glory of God. Do not be disheartened by the trivial things of this life. You are part of the epic story being written and are affecting things you cannot imagine with every action and prayer.
The woman in the photo is my great grandmother Nannie Barham who got up before dawn one cold Mississippi morning and struck match after match to light the stove. She asked her husband what was wrong with them as none of them would catch. He had seen all of their bursts of flame as she lit them. She had gone blind overnight. She was known for her sweet spirit and kindness. She lived to be 76 years old and was blind most of them likely with nothing other than a country doctor and no services.
That’s just one story of strength and determination in an endless line of countless people God put in my lineage. There are plenty of scoundrels too including a hog rustler and a murderer. But everything that Satan meant for evil God used for good.
Every day of your life is a miracle on so many levels and the Lord has a plan for your life. Nothing about you is an accident. Never feel unimportant or unloved. History has been waiting for you.