Hand of God
“God, in His providence, is directing our lives according to His plan and purpose. Hunting for livestock or having a vehicle break down are normal nuisances, something we can handle, but seldom think about as being the providence of God. Yet if we realize that God has His hand on all of our circumstances, everything that changes our plans puts us into a position to meet, pray for, help, or witness to someone else who would not normally come our way.” (Foundation Study Bible, 1 Samuel 9:20)
“Today, there are no circumstances happening in your life right now, no matter what those circumstances are, both positive and negative, that cannot reveal God’s plan, God’s purpose, and God’s Hand in your life right now! Every event invites you and me to look beyond our fears, our temporary worries and concerns, and see God’s wonderful purpose in your life to shape you and prepare you for your future and your eternity.” (Father Barnabas Powell)
“After a number of decades as a Christian pastor, I am convinced that most of what God does in our lives and in our world remains hidden. I have many thoughts as to why this is so – but that it is so, I have no doubt. There are things in my life, which at the time they took place, seemed confusing and contradictory – but after careful, slow, reflection, seem to have been the hand of God. There are things that I have suffered through the years, that I now see as beneficial and even salvific, that I would never have considered to be so at the time. As a pastor, I am always hesitant (with other people’s lives) to offer that insight. In the middle of pain, such “insights” can be very difficult to receive.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
“What God is doing in our lives and in our world frequently remains opaque – we cannot see it clearly. I believe that this opacity has a double aspect – things are unclear because of the hardness of our hearts. We do not see the secret hand of God because our own lives are part of the darkness. But I also believe that the opacity is for our own benefit. The mode of life in which God’s hand appears hidden and opaque, is itself part of the problem. Were God’s hand seen as one thing among the many, an object among objects, an action among actions, we would remain unchanged. We fantasize and say that were we to see indisputable miracles that our lives would be different, we would believe. But this is not so. The manner of such belief is not salvific, it changes nothing.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
"The hand of God is never absent from human activity, whether on the grand scale of history or in the routines of our everyday lives. God is Lord “and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand” (Ps 94:7).” (Dynamis 10/15/2019)
“Every moment of my life is for my salvation. Even the tragedies and disasters that befall me (including those of my own making) seem, in hindsight, to have been something that in the hand of God is doing me good.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
“Unquestionably, there is great loneliness in pain and affliction. A wall rears up around those held in the clutches of suffering. The Lord Himself tasted this isolation, as He asked His beloved Peter, “Could you not watch one hour?” (Mk 14:37). And Job, like the Lord, knew that whatever befell him, the hand of God was upon the events. He knew that God cared about his affairs and had not cast him aside.” (OCPM 6/7/2016)
“Each and every moment of our lives, we have a choice to make - whether to be grateful or to be ungrateful; to see life as a blessing, or to see it as a burden; to notice the hand of God present in our own reality, or to arrogantly think that we are our own god and we have achieved everything on our own.” (Fr. Luke Veronis)
“The purpose of prayer is not primarily to move the hand of God but rather to hold the hand of God.” (Jon Courson)