The Hand of God

The hand of God is a guiding force in our lives. In times of uncertainty, we can know that God is directing our path. 

Life is more than a sequence of chance happenings. The Bible teaches that the life of a good man is directed, ordered and arranged by the Lord. For the righteous man, his course of life is under divine guidance and control. Psalm 37:23 says, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way."

Author Squire Rushnell calls this kind of divine guidance "godwinks." In his book, he says a godwink is what some people would call an answered prayer or simply a coincidence. For followers of Christ, life — and what happens to us — is much more than coincidence or happenstance. God has laid out a path for our lives, and we must walk by faith.

When we walk by faith, God will "divinely align" us by unfolding godwinks along our path, Rushnell says. God lets us use our free will to aim for our own destiny, but He gives us signs, or godwinks, to look for on our journey. These signs — like signs on a highway — guide us and reassure us that we're on the right path.

I've experienced godwinks in my own life. Time after time, I've clearly felt God's hand guiding me. He has always put the right people in my path at the right time to propel me to the next stage of life.

I remember the high school teacher who encouraged me to start writing. That led me to study journalism in college. I remember when I went off to college and how God opened all the right doors for me.  I remember then trying to find a job. I applied for several internships while in college, but no one would give me a chance.

Even then, I know God was at work behind the scenes. In the summer before my senior year, a new professor was hired to head the journalism department. As I worked closely with him that year, he began to show some of my work to his wife, who happened to be the executive editor of a newspaper in our area. She followed my progress that year and later called and offered me a job after I graduated. That was the beginning of a 17-year career as a copy editor. It never would have happened if God hadn't been directing my path.

It's during the uncertain times in life that we especially need to walk by faith.

As Rushnell put it, "the closer we get to that perspective — by getting closer to God — the more our faith will grow in the promise that there is a grand plan for each of our lives and that every piece fits perfectly together."