It’s easy to see the Hand of God at work in the miraculous:

• A child found safe days after a building collapses in an earthquake;
• A notorious political henchman who finds God in prison and becomes a noted Christian apologist;
• An aggressive cancer that has not spread even though doctors feared it had;
• A terrorist who is thwarted before his plan can be executed,
• and so much more!

But while we rightly rejoice and praise God for these sparkling miracles, it is easy to overlook the everyday bedrock providences from the same God. What could be more spectacular than:

• Our Earth, set in a delicate balance between the heat of the sun and the frozen atmosphere of space?
• The precision of day and night and the passing of time?
• The treasuries of rain and snow that replenish and quench the ground?
• Or the indomitable encroachment of grasses, trees, and plants that help provide us with the oxygen we need?

And beyond even these things are more intimate gifts from His Invisible Hand:

• The hedge of protection He places around us (Job 1:10),
• His “glue” that keeps things from constantly breaking and falling apart (Deut. 28:1-14; Isa. 45:7).
• His delay of judgment so we can respond to His salvation (2 Peter 3:9).

How many times, I wonder, has God:

• Preserved my home from lightning,
• Kept our car from breaking down,
• Kept our furnace going through the winter,
• Or kept our family from robbery?

We tend to forget all the ways His Hand has been at work. And the one time the car does break down, or the one time we don’t get a raise, or the one time a friend forsakes us, we cry out as if life has ALWAYS been unfair and God has ALWAYS withheld His blessing!

The angels must marvel at how often we fail to see His Providence! And they must marvel at how much love and sacrifice God spends on us. In truth, it is a miracle that He cares about you and me at all.

And yet He does! He is more than simply “mindful of us” (Psalms 8:4). God knows us inside and out, and He remembers our name–whether we’re rich or beggars (Luke 16:19- 31). And He is never too busy for us (Mk 10:46-52). He even stepped into our place to die for us so that we could be with Him forever (Heb. 5:9).

What kind of God is this?

The answer: a God who loves! A God whom the angels pronounce “holy, holy, holy.” And the God about whom the angels sang on the first Christmas Eve!