It is great fun to see God at work. I mean really fun. Have you ever seen it? It’s like when you put a jigsaw puzzle together, and you find that illusive piece you’ve needed to complete a part of the picture. There’s joy and satisfaction in seeing it come together a bit.

Only when God does that it is truly remarkable. For some of us, we like to fit the missing pieces of our lives together ourselves. It gives us a great sense of accomplishment. We reach far around and pat ourselves on the back for a job well done. It is a wonderful sense of satisfaction, but it really does not compare to when God does it.

Here is the difference. When we work these things out on our own, all we have to work with are the things we can see, or the things we know or think we know to be true. We cannot work with those unseen things or variables. Yet when God does His thing, He takes even the unseen things and weaves an outcome for us that we could not have imagined.

But here’s the thing… God is an awfully polite God. He will wait oh so patiently while we go about working hard to meet our own need. And while the outcome might bring us some satisfaction, it pales in comparison to what He could have brought about on our behalf. We are so quick to rush in and fix our situations, relationships, and circumstances. We want instant resolution, a quick fix. So we choose not to wait on God to do His thing. We probably even pray and ask God to bless what we are planning to do for ourselves. See? It really even sounds silly right now, doesn’t it?

I love the feeling I get when I realize God has worked out something amazing in my life so much so that I want to feel that every day. Yet I won’t unless I wake up every day, and hand that day over to Him from the get go. Lots of days my feet hit the floor, and I’m off to the races so quickly that I forget to give my day over to Him. I’m racing off just hoping that God can keep up with me. I tell Him I have so much to get done; I hope He will see to it that I manage it all.

See how backwards and messed up that is? How about, if before my feet ever hit the floor, I just give it all to Him? That I say, “Today I will follow not lead, I will listen not talk, and I will watch You work out the maze of my life to Your end, not mine.”

For many of us, giving up that much control of our lives is just too scary. We hold tight to our destinies, and refuse to give ourselves over completely to what He has for us. And yet we believe He is the creator of our universe and all that is in it. We see, even if we don’t understand, the intricacies of our world and know that He did it all. And yet we doubt that He can work out the intricacies of our lives. What? Our lives are all that complicated? Really?

He knew just how far from the sun to place our blue planet so that we would neither burn up from the heat of the sun, nor freeze to death from lack of it. We have all we need here to sustain life, all in a delicate balance. Our lives are a delicate balance too, right? We live our lives so often with them completely out of balance because we insist on being masters of our own destinies. You know, you give some people enough rope they will hang themselves.

Do you need more proof that God can manage the details of your life? Well, how about the way he managed the details of Paul’s conversion? These details were just recently brought to my own attention. Take a peek at this.

After Saul’s encounter with Jesus while walking along the road to Damascus, Saul (Paul’s name prior to his conversion) was led by the hand to Damascus, where Acts 9:9 says “He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink.”
During that period of time the Bible tells us that Saul was praying to God, and while that was happening, God was busy communicating with a believer in Damascus named Ananias. Take a peek at Acts 9:10-12…
Now there was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, “Ananias.” “Yes, Lord,” he replied. The Lord said. “Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now. I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again.”
Did you catch all the specifics in the passage?
Three specific people were addressed: Saul, Ananias, and Judas

God gives specific directions: The house of Judas on Straight Street.

God even multi-tasks: While speaking to Ananias in one vision, God says in
verse 11 that Saul “is praying to me right now.”

No one could have worked out the details of Saul’s conversion in the way that God did. He left nothing to chance. Not one detail.

He has a vantage point from which to view our lives that we do not. He can see clearly that which is unclear to us, and work all things for our good. Often, the only missing ingredient is a willing heart on our part. Then God can do His thing in our lives!