I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.- Psalm 57:2
This morning getting ready to go to Santiago, I woke up to a flat tire. I was supposed to be in Santiago by 8, or so I thought. I was tempted to get mad but didn’t. So Tonito and I went to a local “gomero” (tire fixer upper), and waited for someone to get there. I began to think maybe God let me get a flat tire to keep me from getting in an accident, the people here do drive pretty crazy. Maybe I just got a flat tire for no reason at all…but I seriously doubt that. You see, I believe not only in the providence of God, but the absolute sovereignty of God as well.
I usually try to read a Proverb along with my daily Bible readings (I definitely need the extra wisdom). One of my favorites is Proverb 16. One day reading it, it hit me how saturated this Proverb is with the sovereignty of God. It says things like:
The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. – Proverbs 16:1
The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD. – Proverbs 16:33
The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble. – Proverb 16:7 (This one can be controversial. Christians in most circles would probably deny that it means what it actually says here.)
and,
The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.- Proverbs 16:9
Do you see that? Read them again slowly is you have to. Everyone of these verses (along with all of Scripture) show us that God has a plan, He created everything for a purpose, and He is actively working in His creation and seeing to it that everything He created fulfills it’s purpose for being, and that every detail of His plan will come to pass. Every detail. So it can be said that there is no such thing as a coincidence. Back to my story.
Jared and I are going out specifically in search of young men to share the Gospel with and disciple. We have approached a couple and have a few others on our mind that we will be approaching. Guys we know very little about, we just bump into them from time to time in town here. One of the young men “just so happen” to work at this tire place where I was waiting this morning. I had spoken with him a few days ago when he helped fix a couple of other flats I have had this week (not kidding). He is usually pretty busy when I do see him so I haven’t really got to talk to him too much.
As I sat there with my son sipping on some Dominican coffee we puchased by someone selling coffee there in the street, I was getting a little anxious because I should’ve been on the road by now. After my third cup of coffee (they were tiny, lol), I saw someone walking in our direction, and it “just so happened” to be the young man I have been wanting to talk to. I knew right away this was my chance to talk to this guy and ask him if he would like to do a Bible study some time. After some small talk I told him what I do here, which brought the conversation to spiritual things. It didn’t take long to find out that he believes he is a christian but said there is still a lot he doesn’t know and would like to learn. I just smiled and told him I would love to help him with that. He asked for my number and I gave him a tip for fixing my tire so quickly and I was on my way.
The moral of the story is that you may have plans, I had a plan when I woke up, but God had a plan too, so I believe I got that flat tire for a reason. Most likely to be a witness for Christ and fulfill His purpose for me. He established my steps for His purpose. He’s God, He can do that.
The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.- Proverbs 16:9