If He Is The "Great Arranger", What's Our Part?
I've been thinking about God as the "Great Arranger" lately and seeing evidence of it all around me, in Scripture, in history, and in my life. He sets things in motion even before we ask. Just this morning, I was talking to a pastor who made an announcement about shifting youth ministry to a different night, and after the service, a mom came up to him and shared that her son was just saying on the way to church that it would be so much better if youth were on a different night. That pastor had been working on that shift for weeks, maybe months, and yet the Great Arranger set it up so that the announcement would come that day! :)
I could tell you stories of how God provided housing for us in miraculous ways - more than once. There are stories of financial provision and relational connection that could not have happened without Divine guidance.
So, what's our part? Do we even have a part?
If He is the Great Arranger, do we simply need to let go of doubt, believe, and wait for something to happen?
Are we supposed to join Him in His work on earth?
I've been pondering these thoughts and questions for some time now, and want to share where I'm at and how I feel coaching fits in.
The key to what we are supposed to do in any situation is discerning what God is saying, what He is doing, and what He is asking us to do.
There's a good opportunity for pendulum learning here. If you are new to pendulums, the skinny is this:
In many ways of seeing things, there is not simply a line between right and wrong*, but often two differing options in the middle that could both be right at a given time or in different situations. And yet, on the outsides of those potential good options are "choices" that are never a good idea.
Let's apply this to the concept of God being the Great Arranger. The outsides of this pendulum might be clearer than the middles. On the one hand, you could think of God as the Great Arranger and just kind of give up and say, "Well, if God wants it to happen, then it will. There's nothing I can do." It's a passive place where we just let life happen to us, with no recourse. On the other side, we feel we have to work hard, and nothing will happen without our work and pressing in. Getting the picture?
Time for the insides.
In the middle, we have two options: Contentment and Action Steps. Maybe there is even a better way to put it. Contentment can certainly be a chosen action, but I hope you know what I mean.
What's on your mind or in your heart? Where on the pendulum do you find yourself right now, and where do you feel God is prompting you to be?
Quality coaching helps you discern where you are, where God wants you to be, and how you can walk that out in your everyday life!
Whether you need to make a decision or want to come alongside others as they are discerning, Bridges Coaching can help. Which do you need more right now?
*Moral decisions being the exception.