In the Right Places

You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

--Deuteronomy 8:17-18 (NIV)


An article I read recently (thanks Shannon) talks about talents and the ability of anyone to become anything he/she wants.

My point here is not to discuss the article (with which I generally disagree). But this morning, in searching the Bible for passages on talents and finding only the parable of the talents in the concordance, I thus looked up 'ability', and among the verses listed was Exodus 8:18.

As I read and reflected on the chapter (Exodus 8), thinking also of a decision I made over the course of yesterday regarding a major upcoming event, I was reminded--not just the flashback sort of reminder, but the kind that confirms something in the present on the strength of something of the past--of God's grace in bringing me to where I am now, amidst and through all the complications that life is prone to.

And a group e-mail from Steven which I just read, seems to be another sign in this direction. Though of course I am not part of the people to whom the e-mail was addressed, I identified with his distinction of people and the places they ought to be in.

But it all began with what a certain friend said yesterday morning about the differences between me and another friend. Differences which, she remarked, suggest that my place is not his, nor his mine.

Wars are fought in such a way that two men holding the same weapons may not be fighting for the same cause, and those assigned to different platoons and different ends of the earth may truly be more united in their mission than they realise. And not every soldier marches.

Lest I think that I am where I am by the work of my hands and the scheming of my mind, God has reminded me this morning that I am nothing apart from what He enables me to be, and that I am unable to be apart from the grace provided for in His covenant.


I still think it uncanny that so many signs should appear, and so many coincidences come to be, in the space of 28 hours.