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SadhanaOriental Meditation and Christian Prayer

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[20] What I come to realize - 5 (God's helping hands)

 Sometimes we encounter God's helping hands in our daily life.
 We experience it through wonderful "encounters" and meaningful "encounters."
 Sometimes, we happen to meet a person least expected outside office, on a trip, at a station, or on a train. And the encounter is often a key milestone in our life.
 Young single man and single woman, for example. One may encounter someone who will become a companion for life in a group of people who work to achieve a good goal.
 While God helps us in terms of "encounter," He also helps us in terms of "time." In other words, we are sometimes surprised by "coincidence."
 For example, you are engaged in a volunteer activity, and need somebody's help. So, you ask a person (Mr. A) whether he could help you. Mr. A happened to finish his work and was looking for a job like the one you just asked. Therefore, you gain Mr. A's kind support, and your work goes smoothly.
 Here is another small example. Assume you need to check the exact words in the Bible. Let's say it is in Isaiah. Without knowing exactly where it was, you pick up Old and New  Testaments bound in one volume consisting of over 2,400 pages and open it without confidence, thinking, "It must be somewhere in Isaiah..." And you are surprised to find that you opened the very page that you were looking for.
 We often have such a supernatural, mysterious experience. We can also see God's helping hands in our daily life.
Let's further look at two examples.
 First case is when you work relying on support of many people.
 When you work for God's kingdom by asking for cooperation of many people, the success depends on the enthusiasm and commitment of these people. They have their own jobs for their living, and they help you with restrictions in terms of time and physical strength. They barely manage to find time to support you.
 Even in such a situation, the work is done at a high level. Objectively, there are many difficulties. But the work is done successfully and you can keep achieving fairly good results.
This cannot be explained merely by goodwill of people. You can see that God supports many people. And in the fact that you can continue achieving results, you can also see God's support for our capricious heart.
 The second case can be found in our state of mind and behavior.
 You have many jobs that you need to fulfill in your position. In some case, you are motivated and try to be well-prepared. In another case, you are reluctant to do it. In any case, you see God's helping hands in the process to carry out the work.
 In this pattern, it is difficult to see God's helping hands, but you do the work as if you are following a dimly lit path. Such work or duty is undoubtedly delivered by God. At least, God tries to make us grow through this. God helps us grow through this specific job or duty. It is appropriate to think that we are fostered by God, the Educator and Father. After completing something through hard work, you have a great sense of satisfaction and feeling that you have become a better-rounded person.
 We can see that God is helping us in various occasions, sometimes in supernatural and mysterious manners, and sometimes in our daily life.

 

 

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