Acts of God

- a post by Jeanna Mason Stay

“It would take an act of God to get me to go back to school.”

“Only an act of God would make me choose that job over this other one.”

“If I’m supposed to do this, it’s going to take an act of God to make me.”

Perhaps you have heard something like one of these phrases. When people talk about “acts of God,” they’re generally thinking about floods, earthquakes, being struck by lightning. There’s even an “act of God” clause in many insurance policies for something so catastrophic and unexpected that your insurance company won’t pay for it.

On the other hand, I (and I think many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) tend to recognize acts of God in small and simple things—often in my daily life. I believe that God is intimately interested and involved in our lives, that He acts in small ways all the time, and that the more we see it, the more He can lead us in joyful directions.

When I first announced that I am pregnant again, I had a difficult time really trying to explain why we made this decision. I have three children already, and my youngest will be younger than two years when I have baby #4. It would have been easy to explain it if I absolutely loved babies or was naturally “baby hungry,” as I know some women are. It might have been easy to explain it (though rather awkward) if the baby had been an “oops.” But the fact is neither of these is true. The baby was quite planned. I am not a huge baby person. And quite frankly, I am not super excited about the (for me) very small space between #3 and #4.

So why are we having another child right now? This was an act of God. He didn’t send a storm. He didn’t give us blinding visions. He simply nudged; He pointed us in a direction and said, “Go that way.”

And I, being my usual perfect, incredibly faithful self, said, “Really? Are you sure you don’t want to just think it over for a few days?”

But I’d already learned that when I ignore such a clear, obvious act of God, I regret it. And when I follow Him, I am blessed. So, we listened.

We all have moments, some big and some small, when God acts in our lives and changes our course. How we respond, I think, determines in large part how grand and majestic our lives will be. Not necessarily grand in the usual sense—not fame or fortune, not necessarily worldly success—but full, full of joy and of more of who we can be.

So we move forward in faith, knowing that when God acts once to put us on a path, He will not fail to act again to help us stay there. He will move our personal mountains, He will flood our spirits with strength, He will send us lightning flashes of insight and knowledge and power. He will fill our lives with His daily acts.