Acts 27:35-36 After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves.

In the middle of a crisis, the simple act of thanking God for an ordinary thing like food can be a powerful act of faith. These men were in literal danger for their lives, and Paul said the blessing! I’m reminded of a Norman Rockwell painting of a woman and a little boy in a diner, heads bowed over their food, and two burly workmen are looking on in wonder. Our little acts of faith, of placing God first and being obedient to Him, can be powerful indeed. We have very little awareness of the weight of our actions, what is important and what is trivial. God can use what we would consider a minor thing, not worth remembering, to massively impact lives and even history itself. One philosophical idea about that posits a chain reaction from a butterfly flapping its wings in South America all the way to a hurricane in the North Atlantic. That particular example is just a mind game, but the impact of our words and actions is indeed beyond knowing, humanly speaking. However, God truly knows everything, being outside of time and thus seeing the end from the beginning. That level of know­ledge is beyond our comprehension. There is talk these days of what is called “the singularity,” when we create a computer that is more intelligent than we are, and it in turn creates one that is more intelligent than it is, and so on. The thing is, even such a process, if it were possible, couldn’t meet, much less surpass, the intelligence, the omniscience, of God. Rather than tying ourselves in knots over such things, we need to be walking in daily faithfulness and obedience, trusting God with the outcomes, because He alone knows what is fully right and necessary.

I have always liked to know stuff, and intellectual pride has been a real snare to me. At the same time, I’ve not been a very good planner, preferring to “wing it” in most circumstances. I am not to run from planning, but at the same time I am to trust God with whatever happens, whether planned or not. I am not to try to manipulate others, but rather focus on allowing God’s grace to flow through me. As the song says, “I don’t know about tomorrow… but I know Who holds the future, and I know Who holds my hand.” It is a marvelous privilege to be used by God in blessing others, but trying to “make it happen” is likely to cause more problems than not. I am to take each step at a time, not being frantic about anything but not holding anything back, either. God has told me personally that there are many things He’s not happy about at the moment, but with that was the strong assurance that He’s got the perfect “end game,” and I’m to trust Him with that.

Father, yesterday was a good illustration of all of this. We had a lot to do, but You caused it to all fit together without any rush. You know what is on today’s schedule better than I do. Help me indeed rest, relax, and rejoice in You, allowing You to do with and through me whatever You know is best, for the blessing of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!