I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me also out of the horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon the rock, and ordered my goings.
(Psalm 40)
Once upon a time, oh, probably about last Friday, a man was running some errands over lunchtime. He finished his tasks around 1.15pm, and really wanted to go home and chill out. But he had arranged with his son to go to a nearby town and give him a driving lesson. While he was meditating on what he wanted to do, versus what he had agreed to do, he remembered a passage of scripture that he had been memorising that month. The last part of it read He (the Lord) has ordered my goings.
The man realised then that he had been looking at the upcoming driving lesson with his son the wrong way around. The Lord had arranged for that event to happen. The man realised that ‘to order’ something had at least three meanings:
To tidy up something that was messy or disordered. As in the phrase to restore law and order.
To ask for something from someone. As in the phrase he ordered the roast beef sandwich and a cup of tea.
To demand or make an imperative of someone. As in the phrase the sergeant ordered the private to clean his boots.
And so the man realised that the Lord, in some sense (perhaps all three of the above) had ordered the driving lesson. So then he went with his son cheerfully and willingly, not begrudging any lost time, but realising that his Heavenly Father had ordered that part of his day. God had ordained that the man and his son should spend time together.
We don’t live the life we want or plan. We live the life we’re given. It really helps to see that much of what’s in your diary, and even the stuff that isn't, and 'just pops up', God has ordered it.
The Lord orders what will happen in my day, he orders my goings.
Go well today, may you know that both the plans and the interruptions are ordered by the Lord.
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