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Transcript:
Hello, this is Walking in Step with God, and I am Steve McDonald.
How does God show up in our lives day to day? We pray and we hope, but how does God respond? There are so many situations in our lives where God’s influence can be observed. Influence can show up in our interactions with others at home, work, and school. Influence can also show up in unexpected ways, such as keeping us out of harm’s way.
Today, I’d like to discuss 3 ways that God can and will intervene in our lives. Let’s discover how God will show up in our lives so that we can explore a posture of expectation as He hears our prayers and reveals our plans to us bit by bit
Before we dive in, let’s take a break for a few announcements. I will be right back.
Welcome back. Let’s continue discussing 3 ways that God can and will intervene in our lives when we place our trust in Him.
#1 Favor & Influence
When we place our trust in God, He can and will intervene in every facet of our day-to-day lives. In particular, God’s favor and influence can show up in powerful ways when it pertains to circumstances outside of our view, and situations that occur behind the scenes. For example, when it comes to a job search, God may touch the heart and mind of a recruiter that you will never meet to notice your resume above the others. When it comes to circumstances that are outside of your control, God can and will intervene to touch the hearts and minds of those who will have a direct influence on outcomes related to you.
I want to share a quick story of something that happened to me very recently. In November of 2023, I was laid off from my job. I have never experienced a layoff in 23 years of my career. Now, as you know I have founded this ministry and I am heavily involved in all of the activity behind the scenes. Before my layoff, I was struggling to find a balance of working full-time while also investing time in the ministry to help it grow. While I was shocked at the initial experience of being laid off, in mere moments I felt God put peace in my heart that He has responded to my prayer of helping me to grow the ministry as He sees fit. I truly believe to my core that He influenced those who had to decide if I should or should not be laid off and he made -certain- I was part of the layoff. I believe this was done to help me transition to a space where I had more time to build this ministry and reach every corner of the earth with these messages. I recognize I would not have ‘quit’ on my own anytime soon, so I believed He stepped in to ensure His plan for me and this ministry kept moving forward.
#2 Blessings
God can and will bless us in the physical realm as well. Perhaps we are seeking a home that is best suited for our family. God can and will influence our hearts and minds to bless us by directing us to a home that He knows is best for us. God can and will influence all of those involved in the process to guide us to the completion of a blessing in the natural world to satisfy a need or align with His plan.
#3 Protection
God can and will protect us when we are placed in harm’s way. We can ask God in prayer for protection for things that we know we are about to face, but also God can and will protect us in ways that are unbeknownst to us. The natural world is full of realities that may harm us – both emotionally and physically. Some realities are the result of evil deeds done by mankind and some realities are a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. We cannot possibly know all of these realities in real-time, so we place our trust in God for protection.
For example, I always pray for protection when I travel, regardless of the mode of transportation. I pray for my protection. I pray that I arrive safely at my destination without incident. I pray that all of the passengers of the means of travel also arrive at their respective destinations without incident.
When we ask for protection from God, we also can expect that God will intervene in situations where evil deeds would be done unto us. In many circumstances, we will be completely unaware of these interventions simply because they were never allowed to occur. This does not suggest that we will be 100% free of the effects of evil deeds in our lives, but I do say that our protection from evil deeds is so much more significant when we trust in God versus those who do not place their trust in God. Additionally, God can and will take any situation where suffering has taken place and make good out of the bad.
Wrap Up
Today we discussed 3 ways that God can and will intervene in our lives. We learned that God may intervene by introducing favor and influence into circumstances behind the scenes unbeknownst to us. We learned of a handful of ways that God’s blessings can be experienced in our day-to-day lives. We also learned that when we place our trust in God, His protection is with us. While we may not be immune from 100% of the things that can go wrong, we can trust that God’s protection is present in our lives and he will intervene to protect us – in most cases completely unbeknownst to us.
Place your trust in God today and behold in the ways He will reveal Himself to you and bring His divine influence into your life.
Are you interested in discovering more about the guidance offered in this message? Learn more in the companion article Going Deeper with the Word: When God Intervenes
