I don’t believe that God works without anything but process and order. He is a God of planning (Jeremiah 29:11), but he is so detailed that a lot of the time those details do not look evident until the end. If ever. I don’t believe he does this just to get under our skin, really.
Honestly, if God would have told me two or three years ago that my life would look the way it does now, I would have started to hyperventilate. So I trust it is because he loves us so much, and he knows I have a knack for creating messes, that he doesn’t want to give me too much information until I come to a point at which I can actually deal with it.
I experienced that sort of hyperventilating-worthy moment the other week. Earlier this month I was in a completely different state of mind at work, gearing up for a big event in Boise. Four days, and 6 hours of sleep later, I was laid off.
I was the one in the meeting, by the way, asking questions that started with, “I really don’t know how this works, like, because I’ve never been laid off before. And this is, like, my first real job.”
Here’s where the process and planning really becomes evident, with God’s amazing ability to work through all things for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28). Only a couple of weeks ago I was reading in Exodus 14:15, as the Israelites were leaving Egypt–a task certainly requiring immeasurable faith–and found themselves at the Red Sea. God pointed out that not only were they up against a large body of water, but they were being chased by 600 of Egypt’s best chariots plus all of the other dudes in Pharaoh’s army. That’s a hyperventilating-worthy moment, if I have ever heard of one.
Then God says in Exodus 14:15, “Why are you crying out to me?! Tell the Israelites to move on!”
I can sit and cry, even tell God how uncool this is, and doesn’t he know I have student loans, and doesn’t he remember that I just signed a lease and have roommates relying on me for rent, and….on and on.
But he spoke to me several weeks ago, “There is a time to cry out. Then there is a time to step out of the boat, like Peter. His faith was manifested when he stepped out. Now get moving!” A friend also pointed out to me that Jesus, of course, called Peter out of the boat so there was no lone-ranger walking on water happening here.
Matthew 6:32 reminds me that God already KNOWS what I need–clothes, food, water, rent money, money to pay student loans, and yes even a new job. He essentially says, “Don’t worry. I got you. Just be concerned about how you’re going to serve me and the people around you, because if you haven’t noticed my Kingdom is a big deal too.”
Remember, in the midst of an economy that says to us “you’ll never find a job”, the God of the Universe–who makes the sun to rise and fall and never lose its job–is able to provide and even redirect to maybe the destination that you and I have been waiting on in prayer and with the trial of patience.
