Monday, November 27, 2017

Providence Not Coincidence

Photo by Andrew Worley on Unsplash
Something happens every morning in a parent's brain when they are dropping their young charges to school. It seems that parents collectively lose their minds - horns honking, speed racing, cutting off each other to get as close to the drop off point, irritability when driving, poor decision making. Does any of this resonate with you? Though I enjoy the little bit of time I have in the car with my child, it's all the stuff swirling outside that is hectic and chaotic. I'm an early riser, but this particular task of dropping children to school, I never look forward to.


On this particular day, I was debating if to bring my wallet or not (poor decision-making) and at the last minute picked up my pocketbook. On my way to her school, I was trying to beat a traffic light so I did what is commonly known as a  California roll - I hastily made a right on red without coming to a complete stop.  As it turned out, I made this hasty turn in front of a cop and when I looked into my rearview mirror I saw flashing lights. I was perplexed because I didn't think I had done anything wrong. Well, thankfully I had my pocketbook and could show my drivers license while stating the vagaries of parents who have to drop their children to school by a certain time. He understood and after his good-hearted lecture, let me go. So many things could have gone wrong in that situation, but none of them did. Most importantly, it would have been a different stop if I didn't have my wallet, which contained my identification. When I recounted this story later, my young daughter said, "That was providence." And it was. I was touched that she understood that Providence indicates that God's hand can intervene in any situation.

Providence has a protective nature to it; it is defined as the protective care of God. We often don't recognize what we are being protected from, and sometimes we will never know. When we do realize what could have been, oftentimes we are awed and grateful at the same time.

What we sometimes view as mishaps or inconveniences are instances of God's Providence. We may consider these situations detours or delays, but from a broader perspective, they are divine interventions. In the past week alone, divine interventions have shown up as: health wake up calls, flat tires on the highway and even an abrupt text.

We walk around with this myth that we are in control or we control our destinies. However, there is a limited finite amount that we are in control of; what we can control are our choices and our responses. Our choices provide the illusion of us being in control but we are dots in this world's landscape. So our control is huge to us but minuscule in the grand scheme of things because there is so much that we do not and cannot control. It is providential that our destinies are intertwined and the Great Intertwiner is God. He alone allows for the timely preparation for future eventualities. He sees how this strand of the braid will affect the other and that when they are woven together they make a beautiful masterpiece. My encounter with the cop was a part of a beautiful masterpiece for God's providence doesn't begin or end with me.

This is not to say that we throw our hands up in the air and float through life; this is just a simple recognition that though we are made in God's image we are not omnipotent, omniscient or omnipresent like He is. God's Providence humbles me which allows me to view everything that happens from a different perspective.

For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, “What have You done?” Daniel 4:35

This providential perspective provides peace. What does it do for you?

--Nylse

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8 comments:

  1. Yes! There are some days when everything just does not seem to be going right, etc ... I'm running late, I've overslept because my alarm did not go off even though it was set and then when I get in the car I hear about an accident, etc and I wonder, would I have been involved had I not overslept? It's amazing how much He intervenes when we don't know it.

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  2. "Providence indicates that God's hand can intervene in any situation" what an awesome reminder!

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    1. Amen. thank goodness he intervenes and cleans up our messes we tend to get ourselves into lol.

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  3. Wow, I needed this reminder that God's hand will intervene in any situation that I am facing currently in my life. Often its easy to fact that aspect when life becomes so chaotic.

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  4. Wow! This is an incredible reminder of a powerful truth. I've never looked at my inconveniences as God's Providence! What an excellent read and yet, another reason to praise and give Him thanks! Thank you for sharing this!

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  5. My life verse is Eph 4:6... God is "over all, through all, and in all" Since that's the truth, we can find Him in all things if we look hard enough. IT's up to us to continue to see His providence as present and active! Thanks for your thoughts!

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  6. Yes, so much peace in recognizing God's providence! Your daughter has a great understanding of the word!! I love your phrase "the Great Intertwiner." Amen!

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  7. Nylse it is amazing to see the extent of God's providence. Recently, God showed me the simplest of coincidences that could only be explained by His personal involvement!! So cool!!!

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