Much of what we do is dependent on what other people do.
I have a real estate transaction scheduled to close next week. But most likely it will not close on the scheduled date because the closing depends on another closing that is being delayed. Delays in closing are no surprise in real estate because there are so many hands in the process of buying and selling a house. If one person holds up the file, gets sick, or merely in a bad mood and slows down in getting the file out, my clients in the downstream of that process gets delayed with all their plans for moving ruined.
It occurred to me that much of what happens to us is dependent on what someone else does. I can get a job at the place I want only if the boss decides to hire me. Even if I make a promise to be at a certain place by a certain time, I can only keep that promise if the cars in front of me do not cause me delays.
And it’s mind boggling to think the flipside of that, that what I do affects someone else’s plans and his life. What I am doing right now could be ruining someone’s day today.
When I pray for things to go smoothly for me, I am basically praying that everyone’s actions has to be in line with what will fit just right for me, so that what occurs in my life can go the way I planned. In the same way, someone could be praying for something right now that requires me to act in a certain way to make life smooth for him.
Everyone and everything is inter-related. How in the world can God go about answering prayer, keeping everything moving in a way that accomplishes His plans?
I guess that’s why He is God. I feel so finite.