Has God ever given you a glimpse of His amazing, sovereign
care for you, even in the little things? Have you ever gotten shivers as you
realize that there is far more than just coincidence at play in your life?
I was given just such a glimpse yesterday.
It started with something bad.
I was loading my mower into my trailer after one of my first
few lawns of the day, slowly dismounting while brushing dust and grass
clippings off me, when my eyes fell on a troubling little crack on my mower
deck. I thought at first that it was just a bit of paint flaking off, but
further inspection revealed that my deck somehow cracked all the way through in
that one spot. And it looked like it could get worse.
This was not exactly a shiver-worthy God moment. More like a
“God, I just spent $3,000 dollars on this piece of equipment; and it’s already
developing a serious issue??” kind of moment. This concern was in the back of
my mind all day long. I was imagining myself having to drill a couple holes in
my deck and bolt down a piece of metal to hold the crack from getting worse.
Nothing like a tacky hillbilly fix to a piece of equipment you were hoping
would retain its value for a few years.
Fast forward to later in the day. My work done, I headed
over that evening to a new customer’s place to get a bid in on the lawn. The
man and his wife are super nice, both new believers and members of our church.
It was so clear while talking to the husband, Doug, that his faith was real and
impacting his life. If you ever need a pick me up, just get talking with a new
believer, I tell you! It was really encouraging and refreshing.
But as good as this was, the real cherry on top and what
really showed God’s sovereignty was this: On a whim, Doug asked to take a look
at my mower. While I was enjoying showing it to him, somehow it came out that
he loved to weld and fabricate metal. Almost out of the blue, he said he’d be
happy to help me if I ever needed anything welded.
I must have stood blinking at him for a couple of seconds in
shock that God had so quickly given me relief from my silly little worries. “As
a matter of fact,” I blurted out, and showed him the crack in the deck.
And would you believe it, Doug’s eyes got wide with excitement,
“like a kid in a candy store”, I said later to my mom as I related the story.
He launched into a detailed description of how he could fix it no problem, “Like
it never happened!” He then led me back around his shop and showed me his own
lawn mower deck, where he had cut out a large spot of rust and welded new metal
on. At least, that’s what he said he did. The deck looked brand new to me, he
is that good.
All told, I had an offer to trade half a mowing for the
quick welding job, and a free lesson in welding to boot. But even more
valuable, I gained a new friend and look forward to some more fellowship with a
great brother in Christ. I am confident that I just “happened” to notice that
crack yesterday morning, that I just “happened” To be meeting Doug yesterday
evening, and I just “happened” to show him my mower because God was
orchestrating a chance for me to engage with a new disciple of His. I can’t
wait to see what God wants from me in this new friendship!
God cares about us deeply and wants to be involved in our
day-to-day, ordinary lives. He has far more than “just” saved us from eternal
damnation, but has carefully prepared good works for us, his children, to walk
in. He’s gone before and cleared the way through the tangled weeds of care and
worry this world so often seeks to choke us with, and we can’t help but wander
down this clear path. May we more than wander, but walk step for step with our
Lord in what He has planned for us! And may we, even in the little things, be
awed by His sovereign hand and give Him all the glory. Amen!
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
Ephesians 2:8-10
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