As a young adolescent, I remember thinking that I had been born in the wrong era. I imagined that I would have fared well as a young adult during World War II, listening to big band music and supporting the war effort overseas. I remember as a teenager in the 90s feeling lost among the atmosphere of political correctness, deteriorating morality, and the bizarre groups of kids in their preppy, grunge, goth, or gangster clothes. I felt totally out of place.
As an adult, however, my perspective has changed completely.
Reading biographies—as dry as that may sound—has opened my eyes to the fact that God has prepared us for the time in which we live. In George Washington’s biography, for example, it is quite evident that no other man at that time could have filled the role of General of the Continental Army or President of the United States. Most men would have grabbed the reigns of power with feigned humility and allowed themselves to be crowned king. Others would have simply allowed the nation to descend into anarchy. He was made for such a time, and through him, God allowed the United States to rise as a nation.
I could say the same for Lincoln, Grant, Hamilton, the Wright brothers, Louis Zamperini, Einstein, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Elisabeth Elliot, and countless others. In the scriptures we find people like Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, and Esther who were completely unique and perfectly suited to the moment. None of those individuals felt suited to the task or time to which they were called, but through their obedience, God formed nations, defeated kingdoms, and brought about His plan of salvation.
Instead of wishing you lived in a different era, give thanks that the Lord has prepared you for this one. Ask Him to fulfill His purposes through you. What will you do with the time He has given you? How can you serve Him today?
“For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
Esther 4:14 ESV
Elihu's Corner 
My favorite verse in the Bible.
I have written eight biblical biographies. I think you would be most interested in JOSEPH; THE OTHER FATHER. How might he have defended little Jesus, born into a very violent world, until he was grown?
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I will check it out. Is it available on Amazon?
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This is good stuff, Elihu. I too have often felt like I was born in the wrong time, the wrong genre.
My kids are mostly grown now, but I’ve had to really let go, to accept that God made them the way He wanted them, for such a time as this. My youngest could probably take out a small country, and finally I had to just accept, perhaps God needs someone who could take out a small country? I’m laughing here, but it’s proven to be true. Wherever a hurricane is actually needed, there she is. I have one who was so addicted to a crisis, to an adrenaline rush, and now she just works in the Emergency Room. How perfect is that? At the time however, I often had my doubts that this could possibly be a good thing. 🙂
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Ha! You never know is right!
I have one kid that I am especially concerned about, but you’re exactly right—who knows what God is preparing her for? I certainly needed your story today; it gives me fresh hope! 😊 You are definitely an encouragement in this time and place for all of us who have the privilege to know you.
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Amen
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Interesting. I think we all feel like this at one point or another. I felt out of time for a long time when I was younger, and found myself feeling like I should’ve been born in the old west, or in some as yet undefined future, something like Star Trek. But over the years, as I’ve “grown into myself”, I’ve found the feeling has generally disappeared. I think today the sense is— I’ve made too much a mess to be of any real benefit, but then I’m reminded of Romans 8:28-29. I know God is bigger than, and more capable of handling, my troubles.
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God is truly amazing, and I think he knows we will grow into our boots… it just takes time. 😊
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In fact, I think this sense of— feeling out of time/place— is more of what happens when we’re unsure of our place and how we fit in, as the op states— what our purpose is. This too could be part of the whole— “you can be/do anything you want” mentality, which, while sounding cool, has a tendency to more overwhelm, due to a lack of identity, and worth and value, and how that fits in a society such as ours. I think that Titus’ letter from Paul kind of deals with this…..
God’s grace teaches us …….. in our day/age. Titus 2:11-14.
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Wow! Great point. I think there is a lot in what you say. I remember being a high school senior with a whole world of careers out there and not knowing what would be a good fit. Thank God for his grace and guidance!
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Indeed! I was a high school drop out, back in the late 70’s. I’d had a sense of pointlessness, and when I did “join the rest of civilization”, I found that I felt like I had just jumped on a merry-go-round that was traveling way too fast for me. After a couple of decades in life, I found myself diagnosed with metastatic cancer. Upon recovery from my initial treatments, I returned to college, for a “new career.” All the factors played into place, and I recall being asked— what do you want to be when you “grow up”? I laughed, and responded— I already grew up, and was there. Now I have to pick something else, and I have no idea. I did my general studies classes, and with one of my electives, I was dared, or probably encouraged to take a physics class. After learning it wasn’t a chemistry class, I said ok, and gave it a go. I did far better than I ever dreamed possible, and wound up doing my BS in Physics. As I got to the end of my studies, I looked around, and back over my shoulder, and thought out loud— hey! You really did this. Being in my mid 40’s by then, I picked a job, and found a whole new set of challenges I’d not anticipated. 13 years later, I’m now dealing with the growing older challenges, and trying to deal with how to work through that.
In all of this, I’ve found that God is far more real, far more profound, far more here, than I even conceived. Through my college years, I kept having recurrences in my cancer, and greater and greater metastases. Eventually it stopped, and over the next decade, God showed up in simply, yet clear ways.
Don’t be too surprised to find things that you never could have dreamed of.
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Wow! What an amazing testimony of God working in your life. I’ve never ceased to be amazed at all the seemingly crazy directions God has led me, but as I read his word, I imagine Moses, Joseph, Hosea, and the apostles all felt the same way at times! Thank you so much for your story. It’s such an encouragement to me today.
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