“ Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”.
(James 1:17)
1 Thessalonians 5.18 says that “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” and Paul knew what he was talking about. He understood that whatever happens to us there is a reason, a purpose and God surely knows why He is allowing that.
When you put your faith in Christ, God commissions Himself to protect, provide, and care for you (Philippians 4.19). God always provides for His children, though often it is not in the way we expect or hope. The challenge is for us to see His provision and care, even when it is different than we expect. Because God is God, His ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55.9).
Take Ruth’s life as an example. Ruth and her mother-in-law were both widows. They were very poor struggling to survive. Ruth would go out into the fields each morning and pick up the leftover wheat that the workers had missed. One day, the owner of the field, a man named Boaz, noticed Ruth and for some reason he decided to be good to her. He told his workers to leave handfuls of wheat on purpose for Ruth. Eventually Ruth found out it was him. I can imagine Ruth telling her mother-in-law: “this man, Boaz, this owner he’s being so good to me. He’s leaving me so much wheat.” Ruth thought it was Boaz being good to her. The truth is it was God being good to her. Boaz was who God used to bless her, but God was the reason for her blessing. God was the one speaking to Boaz giving him that desire to be good to her.
How many times has God spoken to people to be good to us and we didn’t even know it? For no reason they decided to help us, they opened the door, they gave us a position, they introduced us to a friend, they were means that God was using. The longer I live the more I recognize God’s goodness in my life. Things that I thought were a coincidence, I thought were people just wanting to be good to me, I realize now it was the Almighty. Doors that opened that you couldn’t open, somebody decided to give you a good break, you were at the right place at the right time, you met that person and fell in love. That wasn’t a coincidence. That was God’s provision.
Don’t get so caught up in the provision that you forget it’s the Most High God working in your life. It’s God protecting you from that accident. It was God healing you from a sickness. When you look back over your life nothing was a coincidence. There were no lucky breaks. What you thought was just Boaz being good to you, leaving you handfuls on purpose, that was the hand of God. The Almighty working behind the scenes telling them to be good to you.
Our hearts ache under the pressures of this life, but it is only because we were made for another world. So, no matter what the circumstances are, thank God, thank Him. Show Him you do trust him.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I know you love me so much and you have great things in store for me. Help me draw closer to you every single day so that I can enjoy your sweet presence and direction. In Jesus’ name, amen.
