Now You See It, Now You Don't

     Sovereignty is an attribute of God and therefore constant and unchanging but, from my human perspective, it is sometimes hard to see. Hence this title. But last week I saw it plainly. After 20 years of living with a gravel driveway, we have been blessed with an opportunity to get it paved. I confess I have long been guilty of breaking the 10th commandment--coveting my neighbors' asphalt. For one thing, the snow melts off their blacktop days before it melts off our gravel. And twice last winter our snowblower was damaged when it picked up one of the larger driveway stones. So we were very excited about the prospect of a driveway that melts ice and no longer casts the first stone, or any stone.
     And we have had a long time to be excited about it, because paving contractors are even harder to catch sight of than sovereignty. Two of the three we called came out right away to do estimates. The third, the one with the best reputation, discount coupons, and radio advertisements, did not return any of our calls. If you are not going to return calls, you might as well offer a big discount. The company with the lowest bid does answer their phone, but is continually mystified that no one has called us with a date for actually installing the asphalt. Until last Wednesday. They called my husband to let him know they were prepared to pave that afternoon. But we were not prepared. Reed was at work, I would not be home for a couple hours, and we had two cars to move, one for which we would need to locate keys.  Besides that, Reed wanted to replace the split ties that line the driveway and make a small revision in its shape. We rescheduled for the next week.
     Meanwhile, one of our local radio stations was holding their semi-annual Gambler's sale. Products are listed at full price, but the percentage of discount increases throughout the week. The discount reaches 50 percent by the end of the week, but the goods or service you want may no longer be available. That's why it's a gamble. When Paveco finally called to schedule, it was smack dab in the middle of the Gambler's sale. 1500 square feet of asphalt is always part of the sale. The offer from the paving company we planned to use was still available. I bought it when the discount was 40 percent. When the delay of the paving job intersected with the sale, I could see sovereignty clearly. Probably much more clearly than the family in our church whose mother got a severe head injury when a deer hit by an oncoming car crashed through her windshield. God was still sovereign when that happened, but that knowledge brings pain, not pleasure. She is recovering, but has a long way to go.
     It is easy to see sovereignty in good things, harder to see in tragedy, and almost impossible to see in the daily routine of life. Especially today, as the afternoon wears on, and no paving trucks are in sight. But, like the sun beyond the clouds, seen or unseen, God's sovereignty is always there.