The following was sent to my family by our good friend, Jim Mayer. He pulled these truths from a book titled Not by Chance: Learning to Trust a Sovereign God by Layton Talbert and share them with my family during one of our most difficult experiences of life. Remembering that God is in control of everything and has a purpose for all things, we came to see His fingerprints emerge from the ugly smudges that came our way. Truly, the whole earth is full of His glory, for He is a holy God (Isa. 6:3).

May these reminders help you through whatever difficult time you are going through. Print these out, paste them in your Bibles, put them on your bathroom mirror, over the kitchen sink or over your workbench, set them as the wallpaper on your computer screen—but whatever you do, remember God is in control. And that is where our comfort and confidence rest.

• God, in His providence, blesses, exalts, and uses whom He will.
• God, in His providence, allows and uses the anger and hatred of people to accomplish His purposes.
• God’s providence incorporates the faithfulness and obedience of His children.
• God’s providence often encompasses human aid.
• God, in His providence, restrains evil plans and intentions that do not serve His purposes.
• God, in His providence, may allow the failure of good intentions.
• God’s providence encompasses apparent coincidences.
• God, in His providence, may allow us to be betrayed and cruelly sinned against.
• God, in His providence, may allow us to be falsely accused and unjustly maligned.
• God, in His providence, gives us favor with those of His choosing.
• God, in His providence, gifts us to minister to others.
• God, in His providence, allows our suffering to be prolonged, our gifts and abilities to go unnoticed, our deeds to be forgotten, sometimes for a long time.
• God, in His providence, causes us to be remembered and recognized in His timing and lifts us to minister to others.
• God, in His providence, employs natural phenomena to effect His purposes in people’s hearts.
• God, in His providence, may allow His own people to suffer need.
• God, in His providence, causes us to face the consequences of our sins and actions.
• God, in His providence, can effect a total transformation of character, though it be years later.