The Hand of God?

Sorry folks. Things have been a little crazy lately. School started back up this week, and I’ve recently come across a plethora of web-related jobs. The will to post was sucked away.

The Personal

But I’m back today with some really exciting news. (Well, for us at least). My wife’s been trying to get a job as an elementary teacher. It hasn’t exactly been an easy road. Lots of candidates and few positions. Nonetheless, she terribly impressed some people in the school district last semester during her student teaching, and had a handful of interviews during the summer. Nuttin’ happened. So she took a job as a teacher’s aide. (They pay Chinese workers in an iPod factory more). As school started, it was just a matter of wait and see.

A few days ago, she learned that the school had two second graders too many. She had to wait a couple of days to make sure no one withdrew, and has now been offered the job. Much rejoicing has been had in our household, and partying into the late hours of the night1.

The Provocative

I’m boring you… It’s not that you don’t care, but you’ve got your own lives and jobs to worry about. So let’s talk about something controversial. Was this the “Hand of God“? It’s a question that I’ve had on my mind for years. How does God work? I don’t think there’s one answer, and so I’ll point out up front that undoubtedly many folks have different ideas on the subject. I’m not claiming to have the answer. Still, with my view perhaps in the minority, I think it fair to throw it out in the hopes that it might be more widely discussed.

Before asking if God gave my wife her job, let me share another story on how some claim to see God at work. We have some friends2, who shared a story about a couple on their honeymoon. They arrived at one of their hotels mid way through the week, only to discover that the place had gone out of business months earlier. Making matters worse, one of those ubiquitous conventions of some type or another was in town, and seemingly every place around was booked solid. Magically, a really nice place on the beach at a good price fell into their lap. “It was totally a God thing” my friend explained.

Really? A God thing?

It’s certainly not unusual for a Christian to hold this view. My experience is that in practice, the honeymoon example is getting far out on a thin limb. I imagine there are lots of Christian’s who would find that statement troubling. It’s akin to the God who got me a sweet parking space today at school. (And God, if you work that way, please forgive me and ignore what I say. I could really use that parking space at school. Getting one’s a nightmare!)

But while Christians gladly accept chance for trivial occurrences, we tend to invoke God for the big things. Like getting that first real job or meeting one’s spouse.

I do not. Largely because I find chance comforting. If God gets the honeymooner’s a hotel, why not do something for those in Asia when the Tsunami came ashore. Let’s not forget, there were a handful of honeymooners when it hit. Rhetorically I ask, “Does God love some honeymooner’s more than others?” Is God just if He intervenes in the world to make sure somebody gets a hotel room or a job, and then chooses to do nothing as massive catastrophes approach?

For what it’s worth, my view of God at work in this world goes something like this. Through his spirit, he has the power to transform lives. And I believe God is at work largely through the interactions of people, particularly (but not necessarily limited to) His people.

The Example

So here’s how I see my wife’s case. During her student teaching, she impressed a principle and an influential teacher. Those interactions — that she was known and liked — were what got her the job. (People, with free will, hired her). But as a matter of faith, I believe God can be very present and active in those interactions. (I say can be because I also believe we have the ability to shoot ourselves in the foot and close God out).

So when no job came, and she took the job as a teacher’s aide, God was still present. She had every opportunity to do wonderful things for others as an aide. At the last minute a real job came through. Her opportunities changed with the job, but remain nonetheless.

Do you see what I’m saying? For the believer, how do we say that God gave us this job? Could my wife not have served God as a teacher’s aide? As a secretary? It seems to me that in large part, she wants to be a teacher because she feels that her gifts lie in that area.

The Scripture

Certainly there’s scriptural precedence Christians viewing things that come their way as being the result of God. Right off my head I’m thinking of James 1:17:

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

I really don’t think you have to read it that way though. If you read the chapter for its context (always a good idea) it seems obvious enough that this statement is in stark contrast to the temptation of evil. Here’s a little more of the context from James 1:

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

The point is that a honeymooning couple is a good thing, regardless of whether they have some ups or downs with a hotel room on the trip. So is my wife’s new job as a teacher. You can read this passage as speaking to the root of good and evil — not that each and every specific “good thing” that happens is part of a predestined plan by God.

The Conclusion

I hope I’ve been gentle enough with this topic. I stated it at the beginning, and I’ll state it at the end. My view is not the only view, and frankly it’s a little more nuanced than I could convey, even in a lengthy post like this. But I do hope that Christians will be careful, and put a little more thought into the implications on how they attribute the good things in their life to a higher power.