In the nature of the case, the recognition of providence is retrospective rather than prospective. You only see a pattern begin to emerge over time with the benefit of hindsight. It's like climbing a wooded hill. You can't see where you're going until you reach the summit and look back. From the summit you can see the trail. See the countryside.
In some ways, the walk of faith is like walking at night. God takes you by the hand. When the new day dawns, you can look back over your shoulder and observe how treacherous the journey was - like a narrow, winding trail, hugging the hillside. One misstep and you would plummet to your death.
Ironically, you wouldn't have the nerve to make the journey in daylight. But under cover of darkness, God guides your every step.
One of the nice things about aging in the faith is that I can take the long view of things. I can see God's providence in my life and in the lives of those who went before me. It's a pity I haven't kept a journal over the years.
Life is a winnowing process. Some people start out strong, with a head start and a good steed - only to drop out of the race on the backstretch.
Others make a late start, must overcome many obstacles, yet pick up speed as they progress and make a strong finish. They may falter and fall, but they get back up, while others never recover from a tumble.
Many folks fail to perceive the presence of God in their lives because they have a misconception of what to find and where to look. If you're looking for the wrong thing, you'll be looking in the wrong place.
It's like giving someone the wrong directions. He may accidentally stumble across his destination, and yet he walks right by it because it wasn't what he was expecting to find. He is lost in plain sight of his destination.
A man may die of starvation if he believes the orchard is poisonous. He's surrounded by nutritious food, but in his mind's eye, a single bite is fatal.
God is in the little things as well as the big things. His hand is in the ordinary as well as the extraordinary. In seedtime and harvest as well as portents and prodigies. In a child's laughter and a mother's love.
Some folks never see the light because they were searching for a candle at noonday. Sunshine doesn't count. Unless the light takes the form of a comet or solar eclipse, then all is darkness and night. Never expecting to find the Lord in their own backyard, they end up overlooking God as they stumble over God every step of the way.
This is not to deny that God can be present in more miraculous ways - I can testify to that in my own observation. But we miss the day of visitation when we wait for the grand entrance while a child is born in a manger.
- Steve Hays, Love the Lord with Heart and Mind
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