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Listen while you read: "To God Be The Glory"1
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Financial crunches sometimes reveal the unseen.
Ours was a financial crunch such as we hadn't seen lately. The payment on our low-mileage used car was draining our bank account. We had a decision to make. As much as we hated to part with it, it would have to go back. In its place, we purchased an older vehicle of the same model with more miles. The seller advertised it as having 100,000 miles, and before we gave it a test drive, he told us that the odometer worked only periodically.
As we drove down the road, we discovered that he was right — at least in one respect. The odometer wasn't showing anything at all. But then, suddenly, the mileage appeared. Although the owner had been truthful about the odometer, he hadn't been about the mileage. Actually, 100,000 was really 202,000. Now we had another decision to make.
Three years later, we didn't regret our decision to purchase it. We had no trouble, even though we rarely saw the odometer. Occasionally, it made an appearance — long enough for us to know that it was working and to make a mental note of the mileage so that we could tell the service attendant the next time when we had the oil changed. We trusted the unseen.
The prophet Elisha depended on the unseen when he was hounded by a foreign king who sought his life.
2 Kings 6:15-17 – When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. "Oh, sir, what will we do now?" the young man cried to Elisha. "Don't be afraid!" Elisha told him. "For there are more on our side than on theirs!" Then Elisha prayed, "O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!" The Lord opened the young man's eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire. (NLT)
Elisha trusted the unseen.
The times when I've seen God's hand at work in vivid colour are somewhat like the odometer on my car — rarely. But they come around regularly enough to let me know that He's continually working behind the scenes.
Our lives are in His hands, and He is constantly working to form us into His Son's image, to protect us from unforeseen danger, and to supply our needs — even if it's an older model car with high mileage. Through explicit and inexplicable occurrences — as well as through the kindness of others — He leads us to trust His unseen hand.
God's hand is not always observed, but He lovingly controls the world and faithfully works to provide for our needs. Are you trusting in the unseen?
Prayer: Father, we thank You that we can know that You are working behind the scenes, even when we can't see Your hand. Amen.
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About the author:
Martin Wiles <mandmwiles@gmail.com>
Greenwood, South Carolina, USA
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Thank you.
Thank you for taking time to share.
Amen Martin.
Blessings.
YES, Martin! Thank you for the inspiration today. Helps me. Thank you.
Thank you, Martin for sharing encouraging devotional with us. Blessings.
Thank you for your time to share and I really value the way you share our Christian Faith in Jesus Name, don’t stop.
Good morning, Martin,
Good words this morning. Sometimes it is hard to see God’s hand in the events of the day, but we trust that this is so.
Blessings.
I loved your story, Martin, and it was a perfect illustration for a lesson that is a good one to keep thinking about. Thank you for reminding us of how God is constantly at work behind the scenes even when we forget that He is always working on our behalf.
Thanks, Martin, for another very mindful and reassuring devotional writing. It is so comforting, when we experience a circumstance, to know that God is silently there overseeing what is happening and guiding us safely along. Blessings for these writings you present.
Good morning, Martin,
You are right. We all struggle with this concept of not being able to know that God is working behind the scenes when we don’t understand why this is happening to us. Of course, when we think back on all the times he has helped us, we know the truth. Thanks for sharing a unique way of thinking about it and glad your purchased worked out for you. Blessings.
Mr. Wiles, I want to thank you for your message of encouragement, though we know God works within the unseen, it is very timely for one of God’s children to be reminded!
Your message brought tears of reassurance to me of God’s faithfulness at exactly the right moment.
Thank you, this isn’t the first time your messages have brought me peace and I am sure you reach many others through this ministry.
(On., Canada)