The Guiding Hand

Advertisements

TRENDING

Advertisements

5 min read

FacebookTwitterLinkedInPrintFriendlyShare

There are no coincidences in life -- everything that happens is from God, Who interacts intimately with His creation.

Some
people believe in the concept of God as Creator: He created the world, but then
stepped back and let it run its course.

Others
believe in God as Creator and Sustainer: He created the world and sustains it
each and every day. The ongoing existence of the world is totally dependent
upon God.

The
Jewish view is comprehensive: Creator, Sustainer and Supervisor. This means
that God created the world, sustains it each and every day, and is
personally involved with every person and every aspects of His creation every
second of the
day.

How can
it be that God is intimately involved in the lives of every person, including
you and me?After all, there are over a billion people in China alone! Does God
really have the time to care about each little life?

There are over a billion people in China alone -- does God really have the time to care about every little life on earth?

If you
were one of tens of thousands of employees working at IBM, do you think the CEO
would ever forget you? Of course he would! He doesn't even know you exist.

But what
if the CEO was your father? Would he forget you? Never. Not only would he know
who you were, he would take a special interest in how you were doing and what
your worries and concerns were. He would always have a hand in your life,
sometimes overtly and sometimes behind the scenes. He would try to arrange that
your work would go smoothly for you. And when necessary, he would give you a
tough assignment if he knew it was for your good. Your daily progress would be
carefully watched and lovingly monitored. As your father, he would only want
what is best for you.

God is our Father in Heaven. Each one of us is His child. He created us, gave us our
parents, and brought people and events into our lives for a reason. He watches
over us with love. And He doesn't forget us.

MISJUDGING
GOD

We tend
to make mistakes in understanding our relationship with God because we are
human and look at life through human eyes.

To even
begin to understand God, we have to try to break out of our limited perceptions
and reach a whole different level of awareness.

God is
not male and not female but has attributes that we associate with males and
females.

God is
not restrained by the physical world and has the ability to make anything
happen.

We are
bound by time but God is beyond time. We live in the present, reflect on the
past, and worry about the future. God is above time, seeing past, present, and
future in one glance. He knows what happened in the past, sees us in the
present, and knows the future.

THE
MAZE OF LIFE

God is
continually guiding us through life. Imagine a person in a maze. At one end is
the entrance. On the other is the exit. Now imagine that there is no roof on
the maze, so we can look down and see the entire structure. We can see where
the person is, where she has come from, and where she is going.

We watch
as she enters and begins to move through the maze. At one point she comes to a
split. Her choice is to go left or to go right. If she turns left, she will
have a clear path to the exit. If she turns right, she will come to a dead end.
What she sees from her point of view is very limited, while from our vantage
point, the situation is much clearer.

We are the ones in life's maze, and the one looking down from above is God.

We are
the ones in life's maze, and the one looking down from above is God. God sees
where we are, from where we have come, and where we are going.

Not only
did He create us, but He also created the maze. Each of us has our own
individually designed maze, as He puts all of life's choices before us.

If the
person goes right instead of left she will hit a dead end. At that point she
can do one of two things: sit down and give up or realize she's made a mistake,
stop, turn around, and head back the other way, eventually finding her way to
the exit.

God
wants us to make the proper choices. So He brings people, events, and
circumstances into our lives to help us do just that. Sometimes we get the
message, sometimes not.

When we
find ourselves bewildered by life's maze, everything possible is done to show
us which way to turn: the better way is made brighter, more accessible, more
inviting. Maybe someone else -- a teacher, a mentor, is brought into our life
to show us the way.

THERE
ARE NO COINCIDENCES

However,
in order for us to understand the message that God is sending, we have to be
aware that He is sending a message, that life isn't just a series of
coincidences.

When
events happen, they happen for a reason. This is God's way of communicating
with us.

But
remember, you can ask others for advice and guidance, but in the end only
you know what God is telling you
.

The same experience can happen to two different people and deliver two different messages.

The same
experience can happen to two different people and deliver two different
messages. Sometimes we don't know what the message is at the moment, but with
time and careful thought, often, looking back, we understand.

We will
not always like the message or how it arrives. Hitting a wall in life can often
be painful. But even when the path looks like a dead end, we can make the
choice to open up endless possibilities.

Adapted
from Lori Palatnik's
Remember My Soul
Buy the book from
amazon.com

Click here to comment on this article
guest
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
EXPLORE
LEARN
MORE
Explore
Learn
Resources
Next Steps
About
Donate
Menu
Languages
Menu
Social
.