Do you recognize the hand of God in your life?

As I was chatting with a friend this afternoon, we started talking about recognizing the hand of God in our lives.  Both of us are very aware of God’s hand even in the smallest details.  She’s always sharing her latest “God-story” and it’s never a challenge for me to recall one of my own.  What some people call coincidence or chance, we recognize as God’s providence.  The biggest example that I have is of the number of providential occurrences that brought us to this particular house and the church where we now worship and serve.  The Story of His House For Us has become an oft repeated testimony, even to unbelievers, and an encouragement to us that we are in the center of His will!  As I’ve grown in my understanding of God’s sovereignty, I just assumed that other Christians saw things the same way that I do; so I was quite surprised when my friend shared with me the story of a Christian couple who don’t view such things in the same way.  After a week of house-hunting and school interviews, everything was coming together beautifully and when my friend's husband marveled at how wonderfully God was working everything out, the other couple disagreed and the comment was made, “Well, you’re Calvinists and we’re Armenians.”  Do Arminians not recognize God’s hand in their life? 

I grew up mostly in Baptist churches, and when I would make comments on things like “age of accountability,” I was often called an Arminian by my ultra-Calvinist professors at my Presbyterian college; but when I understood the Arminian views, I emphatically denied any connection with them, although I could never fully embrace the 5 points of Calvinism.  I was somewhere in the middle, not willing to be tied to either camp.  As I continue to grow in my faith, and study the Word, I have grown ever-more convinced of God’s sovereignty and His plan for my life.  There are countless verses in the Bible which speak of His sovereignty, “It is I,” God says repeatedly in the book of Isaiah.  “For I know the plans I have for you…” He tells us.  The New Testament is full of such statements as well; to the extent that Paul writes that God “determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,” on Mars Hill in Acts 17:26.  These are just a couple of the many verses that come to mind as I type.  As I read these verses, I realize that some of the teaching that I’d heard in the past that God doesn’t really care who I marry (as long as they are a believer), and that God doesn’t care where we live, are not exactly accurate.  God is intimately acquainted with me and desires to be included in every decision that I make. 

Discussions of God’s sovereignty and human free will are often passionate and rarely resolved.  Our minds can’t really grasp how both can exist in harmony.  In the end, God only knows.  Still, despite the disagreement, I hadn’t realized how significantly your interpretation of Scripture impacts your perception of circumstances in your life, until my friend shared this conversation.

I won’t argue theology, but I must say that I am distressed and actually feel sorry for Christians who are unable to see God’s hand moving in practical, tangible, ways in their lives.  More importantly, when we refuse to recognize the hand of God, we neglect to give Him the glory He deserves! 

He deserves the glory when He provides a great deal on purchase at a yard sale. 

He deserves the glory when our husbands get a bonus. 

He deserves the glory when our kids remain healthy during a lapse in our health insurance coverage. 

He deserves the glory when a homeschooling family moves in across the street. 

He deserves the glory when our kids grasp a challenging mathematical concept. 

He deserves the glory when we are protected in a car accident. 

He deserves the glory when we are blessed by the warm sunshine and a cool breeze. 

He deserves the glory when we have an opportunity to share a testimony with a stranger on the playground. 

He deserves the glory when the right size of jeans that your rapidly growing son needs are on sale on the clearance rack. 

He deserves the glory when a widow at church offers to watch the kids so that you and your husband can go out on a date. 

He deserves the glory when _______________. 

These are all evidences of God’s hand working in your life.  He cares about the details!  Recognize His hand, look for it, be blessed and encouraged, and give Him the glory!