Now the donkeys belonging to Saul’s father Kish were lost, and Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the servants with you and go and look for the donkeys.”
1 Samuel 9:3 (NIV)

I’ve always loved theatre. From the moment I was surprisingly cast by my teacher in the lead role of a 6th grade play, I had a quiet passion for it. Little did I know that God had purposes for that passion.

On the first day of my sophomore year of high school I was cast in a film. During the production of the movie I met a man who would become my spiritual mentor. Then he would hire me in the job that would become my career. I now own the company he founded.

Though everyone suggested a million practical things I should major in at college, I decided to eschew practicality and follow my passion. I majored in theatre — and it prepared me for life and a successful business career in ways I could have never imagined.

Backstage, in a community theatre production of South Pacific, I met a woman named Wendy. She was the prop master for the show. We became friends. Then she became my wife and partner in all things.

In today’s chapter, a young man named Saul is tasked by his father with a relatively mundane task. He’s sent to look for some lost donkeys. The search becomes a multi-day journey. Saul has zero clue that God has told His prophet Samuel to be on the lookout for a young man looking for donkeys. Samuel is told to anoint the donkey hunter as the new King of Israel.

Saul is not searching for a throne. He’s searching for donkeys. Yet God is guiding every step.

This theme echoes throughout the Great Story:

• Moses tending sheep before encountering the burning bush.
• David watching flocks before being anointed King.
• Peter casting nets before Jesus calls him to become a fisher of men.

God often meets people while they are busy doing the ordinary thing in front of them. Like simply following a quiet passion for the stage. God is at work in my life even when I think I’m merely chasing lost donkeys.

Saul wakes up believing the day is about missing animals. Samuel wakes up knowing the kingdom is arriving. Both are walking toward the same moment. And, that’s the mystery of God’s providence.

How many moments in life felt random at the time?

• a delayed conversation
• an unexpected detour
• a frustrating loss
• a chance meeting
• a job we almost didn’t take
• a coffee invitation
• a closed door
• a wandering donkey

It’s only in looking back from a waypoint further down life’s road that I realize: God was steering the entire time.

It’s easy to imagine God’s calling arriving with trumpets and lightning bolts. Along my life journey, I’ve come to realize that more often, God hides destiny inside ordinary obedience.

I take a chance and audition.
I take the networking meeting.
I write the post.
I show up for coffee.
I follow the nudge.

Meanwhile, heaven is arranging divine appointments I can’t possible see or imagine.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, the curtain is rising on this another day in the journey. There are no lost donkeys on my task list, but there are a host of other routine, mundane tasks to perform. And so, I will faithfully play my part — and trust God’s providence for whatever He has planned and purposed in the midst of it.

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