This week we explore the concept of Providence - what it is, what it is not, and how we learn to depend on the hand of Providence for ourselves by looking back over our own lives.
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Thanks as always to my friend, Peter Vaughan-Vail, for providing the beautiful harp music you hear in this and every episode.
Here are some resources I hope will help you to engage with this week's topic in a deeper way for yourself:
1. Alma Mater: Hail, Providence from Providence College
2. Meditation questions: where might we find God's providential hand in our own history?
What was a time in your life where you thought, “I don’t know how I’ll get through this,” but then something shifted to help you to move you forward, maybe in a small way, whether in your thinking or physical circumstance? Could God have been at work for you at that time in some way?
Who is a person who changed or expanded your thinking on a topic that made you more open, more kind or loving, or who enabled or directed an action you took that changed how you lived your life from that point on? How did you meet this person? Do you remember? What were the circumstances around how you connected, and might God have been present in that for you?
As you look at your vocation or work or even your interests, what were the circumstances that led you there? What influenced your decisions or your direction then, and what or who is guiding you now toward your next steps? Is it possible that God is working in one of these vocational situations, even on a very winding road, which is kind of God’s favorite, but is it possible that God is working in that right now for your good?
What’s a book, movie, podcast, or song that inspires you? How did you come to find it? Does it show up at various points in your life when you really need it? How did or does this piece of art change, comfort or guide you? Do you have a story about that? Do you believe that God works in this kind of stuff?
Think about the hardest thing you've survived. Where can you see God working, even in that, for your good?
Finally, where are you today, friend? Physically, emotionally, spiritually: where and how do you find yourself today? Is there something in today’s circumstances that you suspect God might have had a hand in? Some small detail of God showing off and showing you a particular kindness? Let’s stop a moment and just say thanks in our spirits for how He works for the good in this day that He made for us.
3. Book: Take Heart: 100 Devotions to Seeing God When Life's Not Okay (I contributed devotion #100)
4. Lyric Video: The Voyage, by Amanda Lindsey Cook
