Guiding hand of God

Genesis 44: 18 - 29; 45: 1 - 5

More and more, I am listening to the graced history of people's lives. It is a great privilege and I am grateful for the trust given, and realize that it is a great gift granted. The story of Joseph in Genesis is one of the clearest biblical examples of how everything that happens in our lives is guided by the hand of a loving God. This is not to say that we can ever understand how God 'works' his guidance side by side with the full human freedom he has given us. But the stories I hear remind me again and again that somehow, beyond the 'facts' of a situation, however, grim, there is always the invitation to wait for God to reveal his guiding hand. This discipline of listening to our lives does not produce quick results. Even for Joseph the story was long drawn over many years, and including an unjust prison term. Reading his story as we do, in a few minutes, over a few pages of Scripture we forget the long years of dark waiting and uncertainty.

So too with our lives. Our life history is always a graced history when we begin to see it through the eyes of our loving God. Initially, the painful events may overwhelm us, blurring out everything else. We may indeed have to deal with the deep hurts in order to free ourselves to 'see'. This takes time, as God rebuilds certain basic emotional structures in our lives, perhaps even aided by counselling. However, to reach the point of graced vision, is a true 'gift', one that God grants as we are ready. When such glimpses come we begin to 'know' experientially....what our life is really all about. Nothing but grace........

"Be at rest once more O my soul,

for the Lord has been good to you."