Recently I've been seeing that even before I knew God, He was protecting me from certain things that would have taken me in a direction He couldn't allow me to go.
Think back -- did He begin to guard you, to woo you, to draw you, even before your heart had awakened to Him? True, we don't become His children until we repent, accepting that Christ's sacrifice was for us personally. But time is insigificant to God. David says in Psalm 139 that before he was even in his mother's womb, God knew everything about him and had ordered all his days.
I like to think that on the day I was born, God came into the hospital nursery and looked down at me, beaming proudly. "You're Mine, little one. I will always love you. You will have rocky roads to travel before you understand this, but I am here for you now and always." He already had His hand on tiny details. I used to somewhat dislike my first name, for example, but I'm convinced now that He chose both my given names -- gave my parents the inspiration -- because both my names have spiritual significance, and say something about my relationship with Him.
As I continue to see threads like this, it causes me to adore Him all the more.
You have enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
(Psalm 139: 5-6)
It is too high, I cannot attain to it, Father -- as are You, and yet I wrap myself in You. Your protective hand encloses me, and I am Yours forever.