Proverbs 19:21—Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
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Later that day, he purchased the necessary lamp. When he opened the hood of the car to install the new bulb he discovered that three of the four bolts holding his engine block in place had come off. In essence, his car was in a precarious state. Had he not been pulled over how many miles more would he have traveled before his engine twisted loose potentially causing serious damage to his car and possible injury to himself or others? Instead of being angry at being stopped and therefore late to work, Alan recognized the providential hand of God and was thankful.
Have your ever been frustrated because circumstances worked against your well-designed plans? For sure! Yet, what we see as disastrous God may see as salvific! We may be groaning over His handiwork. Corrie Ten Boom, the famous holocaust survivor once said, “If God sends us on stony paths, he provides strong shoes.” Maybe we should spend more time thanking Him for what’s on our feet than complaining about the condition of a trail we would not have selected.
D. Martyn Lloyd Jones wrote, “Though you are one of the teeming millions in this world, and though the world would have you believe that you do not count and that you are but a speck in the mass, God says, ‘I know you.’” Not only does our God know us He cares for us, often exercising His divine direction. Does this mean that when bad things occur God isn’t around? Maybe it depends on how we define “bad.”
Human perspective of an event or series of events is always snapped from a handicapped shutter speed. No matter how brilliant we may be we are still fallible and incapable of truly seeing the BIG picture. Our eternal Lord sees all, knows all and directs accordingly. The fiber that makes up faith therefore is the trust that although I may not understand life God knows what He is doing! So how in the heaven are you?
Inspiration
