God Orchestrating Events

Have you ever wondered how many times the Lord has intervened in your life and you did not know it?  For example, have you considered why you are delayed in a traffic jam, the dog has an accident before you leave for work, or you spill coffee in the car and have to pull over?  Is it possible that some of these unexpected “nuisances” are actually God orchestrating events in such a way as to accomplish a bigger purpose and plan?  Perhaps to keep you from something or potentially to help someone else out in a way unknown to you?  Take a look at the following passage: 

“After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, ‘Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?’  ‘Yes, he does,’ he replied.  When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak.  ‘What do you think, Simon?’ he asked.  ‘From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?’  ‘From others,’ Peter answered.  ‘Then the children are exempt,’ Jesus said to him.  ‘But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.’”  Matthew 17:24-27 

You may think, “Ok, and…..?”  But think about it…what would have had to happen in order for the perfect denomination of money to be at exactly the right place at the right time?  And not only for it to be there but specifically…inside a fish!  A fish that would have to swim by at the precise moment Peter dropped his line.  Mind-blowing!  

And how did the coin get there?  Did someone drop it as they were swimming, walking along the water?  Were they frustrated or even dismayed when they could not find their money?  What that person may have perceived as their misfortune was actually God at work.   

He had a greater purpose for that coin.  Should the person who lost the coin then complain about their circumstance?  Or the fish about his—having to swim around with a big piece of metal stuck inside of him?  But the inconvenient and uncomfortable events for both the person and the fish ultimately had a much larger and specific purpose completely unknown to them. 

Today, consider…what inconvenient, difficult or uncomfortable event is God using for a bigger purpose in your life or in the life of another right now?  When Solomon advises in Proverbs 3:5 to, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding…”, he meant it.  We will not always know why things happen exactly as they do, but we can trust in the Lord and let Him lead us even when we don’t understand.