God’s Sovereignty Brings a Special Joy to Our Giving - Blog - Eternal Perspective Ministries

One time I was driving with Luis, a thirteen-year-old boy I was mentoring. I took a road I hadn’t been on for a few years and found myself stuck at a long red light in a left-turn lane. A twentysomething woman called to me from the sidewalk, “Got change for a dollar?”

The lane between our car and the woman had no traffic, so I beckoned her over, gave her some money, and then handed her my little book Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Heaven, which includes the gospel message.

She said, “Cool,” thanked me, and returned to the sidewalk.

Afterward I pointed out to Luis, “Had I driven a different street, or had that light turned yellow two seconds later, we wouldn’t have been here. Had that woman come to the crosswalk thirty seconds earlier or later, she wouldn’t have called to me.”

I could have added that had I not felt moved the day before to replenish my supply of books in the car, I wouldn’t have had any copies to give her. And to top it off, had it happened another time, Luis and I wouldn’t have had the fun of together seeing God at work.

But Luis and I didn’t sense only God’s sovereignty in that moment; we also sensed His happiness. What a delight it was to have this unexpected encounter that I could never have orchestrated.

I don’t know who that young woman was—whether she read the book or responded to the gospel, or whether the book ended up in the hands of someone else whose life might have been changed by it. But if it did, one day I’ll see her again or meet the person God touched through it.

In His sovereignty, God orchestrates unique opportunities for us to be generous. He delights in those moments of divine connection, and so should we.

Excerpted from Randy's book Giving Is the Good Life.

Photo by Maxwell Ridgeway on Unsplash