“For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36)

The moments of our lives cycle through the ordinary and routine until an unexpected and random event interrupts the mundane. These out-of-the-ordinary happenings may be big or small. They may shake us or merely annoy us. We experience a hundred things every day that seem the same and then, one day, something different surprises us. It comes out of nowhere and reminds us that life does not always run as a smooth, humming machine.

For the Christian, unexpected events reawaken us to the providence of God. What is a big life event for us is but one of a billion small providences from the hand of God. At any given moment He is working in each of our lives and everywhere else in this world. Nothing happens apart from His sovereign power. Events unfold according to His sovereign wisdom.

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Romans 11:33)

The unexpected events in our lives feel big to us. The mundane and ordinary happenings feel small to us. But each and every happening is a providence of God. So whether we view them as big or small, they all come from the hand of God. God works in every moment of our lives. “From Him and through Him are all things.”

Thus the small providences of God are significant providences to us. If all things are from Him and through Him, then there is meaning in the happenings of our lives – both big and small. God is working for our good in the random and in the routine. He is in sovereign control of the unexpected and the everyday. So it is for each of us in every moment.

Furthermore, even though our life events are but a drop in the ocean of His small providences, that does not mean they are insignificant to God. For not only are all things from Him and through Him, they are also “to Him.” God works every providence in your life unto Himself so that “to Him be glory forever.” All things – all of life’s unexpected events, all of life’s ordinary happenings – serve the purpose of magnifying His glory. Thus every providence is significant to God.

Your life is not disconnected from God’s working. Every single happening is from His hand and carries meaning. God’s small providences in your life serve big purposes. Each providence reveals that God cares for you and your good. And each providence reveals God cares for Himself and His glory.

And so we can say with the apostle Paul, “Amen.”