Where divine providence would take us

We have to be ready for wherever divine providence would take us. We have to be open to it all the time. Even as we make our plans and pursue them truly as our own, we should not forget that nothing in our life is actually outside the providence of God who can adapt himself to us, even in our worst situations and predicaments, and still lead us to himself.

The only thing to remember is that God is always around and is actually intervening and directing our life to him. That is part of his omnipotence which he exercises both from all eternity and in time since our creation and all the way to the end of time.

We need to be open to his providence, because even if God is 100% responsible for our life, we too, in a manner of speaking, are also 100% responsible for our life. Since we have been created in God’s image and likeness, we cannot help but have our life immersed also in God’s life. We need to learn to live our life with him as consciously and as freely as possible with him.

But we have to be ready for wherever God’s providence would take us because God leads us in very mysterious ways. Remember what Christ told Peter: “When you were young, you girded yourself and walked where you would. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go.” (Jn 21,18)

There will be things in our life that will be beyond our human notice, and much less, our human control. We have to trust God’s providence even if things look terrible, impossible, or inhuman when judged simply by human standards.

Let us remember the story of Abraham who was asked to offer his only son, Isaac, in sacrifice to God. That trust Abraham had in God’s will won him the privilege of being the father of all nations. God always has a purpose for everything that happens in our life, or can derive good from whatever evil we commit.

There are actually many mysteries in our life that can surpass our capacity to comprehend and, much less, to cope with, including extreme evil. But let’s always remember that where sin or evil has abounded, the grace of God has abounded even more.

Our Catechism teaches us why God allows evil to happen and how such evil can occasion a lot of good. “He permits evil to take place because he respects the freedom of his creatures and, mysteriously, knows how to derive good from it.” (CCC 311)

“In time we can discover that God in his almighty providence can bring a good from the consequences of an evil, even a moral evil, caused by his creatures: ‘It was not you,’ said Joseph to his brothers, ‘who sent me here, but God… You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive.’

“From the greatest moral evil ever committed-the rejection and murder of God’s only Son, caused by the sins of all men-God, by his grace that ‘abounded all the more,’ brought the greatest of goods: the glorification of Christ and our redemption. But for all that, evil never becomes a good.” (CCC 312)

It’s good to keep this truth of our faith always in mind so that whatever happens in our life, as long as we try to be with Christ, we can manage, with his grace and our effort, and with the company of saints, to tackle it meritoriously.