He Plays The Long Game

Connect the dots.

I recently made a huge career pivot, moving in a completely different direction from anything I could have imagined or considered.

How?

I caught a cold. 

I caught a cold and canceled plans which led to decorating the house for Christmas which eventually required a quick (masked) trip to my favorite homegoods store (which I postponed every thirty minutes for a couple of hours until it seemed like a good time to take a break) where I ran into a friend on aisle nine I have not seen in over twenty years.  

Sixty minutes of picking up where we left off, reconnecting deeply with priorities that matter to us, we were about to say goodbye when she asked, “Wait. Now that you’ve moved and your husband is in his new role, what are you doing these days?”. 

“I don’t know yet.” I replied. 

We’d been blocking an aisle for quite some time now, so I quickly explained how God had invited me to a journey eleven months prior. One morning, in my first period class, after weeks of suggesting He had something new for me, something different, I finally submitted, releasing a calling and career I loved, to wherever and whatever He wanted to lead. I had pushbacked for a long while out of fear and doubt. When I finally yielded, I knew without a doubt my remaining time at an incredible middle school with some of my most favorite coworkers ever and students who already and will continue to make the world a better place would be my last as a classroom teacher, at least for a while. I shared with her how in the months since, God had filled my “sabbatical” with new clarity and reiteration of Who He is in my life, how He had been providing time to rest, write, study, think, and invest in others, but had not yet shown me where, exactly, He wanted me to work. I told her how just in the last few days, I had come to realize I was ready to come out of “the waiting”.

Eyes lit and locked to mine, she grabbed my arm, and emphatically declared, “I have someone you have to meet.”

Now, this friend is one of those people who has gone the distance for so many, so powerfully, so consistently, that just hearing her say this sparked a listening ear. 

And a little apprehension. I had asked God for nudges. This seemed more like a push.

Later, I would discover that she herself was surprised by her undeniable prompt to introduce two people she had not recently seen, both from very different stages and circles of her life, but she has a longstanding habit of listening to and obeying the Author and Perfecter of our faith, so she followed through. 

The rest is a blur of clarity, peace, and adventure. 

God connected dots, drawing sweet circles He planned long ago. 

Let me be clear. I don’t mean to depict God as one who takes pencil in hand and connects people to people like dots already drawn on a page making one cohesive picture. No one handed Him a book of dot-to-dots and said, “See what this will be.”  

He is the page. He is the story. Beginning, middle, and end. He connects us differently.

It isn’t a coincidence. It’s not serendipity. 

Neither is it destiny or fate. 

It’s much more.  

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. 

Ephesians 2:10

Out of His great love for us, God has been at work in us¹, and He plays the long game.

When we stop to pay attention to what is happening around us, every person we meet, every good gift² presented by God, when we recognize the opportunities each moment offers, we discover the works He is already doing around us³, the work he has prepared for us beforehand so we can walk in it.

Back to the homegoods store…

The friend I ran into? I first met her around 1981. Harrison Ford was raiding a lost ark, Charles and Lady Di were newlyweds, and we were using Post-it Notes for the first time. I was about to leave junior high behind, while my friend, a young mom, was ministering to college and career young adults with her husband. Both would mentor and inspire me and many others during our time in their class, and we would stay connected through the early years of my marriage, exchanging consistent contact for new places and faces over time, but always remembering and encouraging each other when our paths crossed.

The friend I’d eventually meet through a connection made on aisle nine? She wasn’t even born yet. 

What do we all three have in common? We are daughters of the King, called according to His purpose, created for good works beforehand that we might walk in them. Our Father wanted us to meet for a purpose He has in 2023, so He connected the dots. He drew sweet circles between a couple of his children, weaving time, seasons, and reasons into something new⁴. 

Take a look at your own life- the circumstances and opportunities you are experiencing right now. If you are a child of God, they are much more than circumstance. They are part of a bigger plan. God is at work all around us. He invites us to join Him. The more we steward our lives in faith and obedience, the more we see dots connect, the bigger picture, His sovereign hand designing and moving and creating⁵. 

Make a list of the good and perfect gifts your Father has given you: people He has put in your life, relationships He has provided, strangers He puts in your path. 

Make a list of how He has uniquely wired and gifted you and how those gifts have shown up over time.

Watch the dots connect. See His hand drawing us closer to Him and each other to do good works that others may see them and glorify our Father. 

Thank Him. 
Enjoy Him.
Follow Him.
Watch Him do it again.
Repeat.

He plays the long game. 

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References

1. See Philippians 1:6, 2:13.
2. See James 1:17.
3. See Isaiah 26:12, 64:4; Hebrews 13:21
4. See 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Corinthians 12:6; 2 Corinthians 3:18.
5. See John 5:17; Philippians 2:13; Proverbs 19:21; Psalm 77:14, 143:10; 1 Peter 4:2, Job 34:20.