Preached Sunday, November 17, 2013 from Various Passages
Theme: Certain things help us to put the doctrine of God’s providence into practice in daily life.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
As some of you may know, I meet with a couple of groups of students at Multnomah University on a regular basis. I try to come with practical topic to discuss that are relative to ministry; and the last time we met, I raised the issue of God’s providence. “How does God’s providence impact daily ministry?” I asked.
Now; these, of course, are graduate-level theological students. They’re pretty familiar with the biblical doctrine of God’s divine providence. But since there might be some folks here this morning who aren’t familiar with it, I hope you’ll let me explain something of it. To me, it’s one of the most precious doctrines of Scripture.
You might recognize the idea of ‘provision’ in the word ‘providence’. That’s because the doctrine of God’s providence has to do with God’s role over His creation as its ‘Provider’. Divine providence speaks of God’s gracious work of continually maintaining and providing for every aspect of His creation, so that all things in creation fulfill His good purposes. And I believe it’s helpful to think of God’s divine providence in two ways. The first way is what I like to call ‘Universal Providence’. That’s speaks of how God is personally and intimately involved in maintaining and sustaining all things that He has created—the earth, the heavens, and all that they contain. Like Paul said of our Lord Jesus in Colossians 1:17-18;
For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist (Colossians 1:16-17).
I suppose the opposite of this would be the philosophy of Deism. Perhaps you’ve heard of it. Deism was a philosophy that was very popular around 250 years ago; and it’s still around in some forms today. It’s the belief that God created the universe; but is no longer intimately involved with it or personally connected to it. It would be as if God had wound the universe up like a great clock; but then went away and left it to run on its own. I utterly reject that idea. I believe—as the Bible itself teaches—that God is very much involved, in an up-close and personal way, in maintaining and sustaining His creation. That’s ‘Universal Providence’.
And another way to look at divine providence—one that flows from the idea of His Universal Providence—is what I like to call ‘Personal Providence’. That is that, just as God works providentially in the whole of His creation, He also works to bring that providential care to bear in the lives of His redeemed people—so that nothing ever happens to them but what He allows and absolutely controls; and so that everything that He permits to happen to them fulfills His purpose of bringing about their good to His own glory.
Here, you could think of what Paul wrote in Romans 8:28-30;
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified (Romans 8:28-30).
Or another verse—an amazing and wonderful one, I think—is Ephesians 2:10; which says,
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).
That’s ‘Personal Providence’—a doctrine I greatly love.
And you might be wondering why I brought all this up with those dear brothers at the seminary. It’s because I wanted to explore with them how the scriptural doctrine of divine providence impacts their personal ministries. As students, of course, many of them are feeling the pressure right now of papers that are due and assignments that need to be completed. But I wanted to impress on them that they should embrace those papers and assignments and exams—all of them—because they are given to them ‘providentially’ by God for a good and glorious purpose. And in addition, many of them are dealing with struggles and problems in ministry. Those ministry challenges are also given to them by God’s providential hand. Some of them are dealing with the difficult challenges of balancing family and work and school and ministry. I wanted to encourage them that all of those things truly do come to them from the hand of a loving, caring, sovereign Provider; who not only allows those challenges to come upon them, but also promises to give them everything they need to meet those challenges, so that He brings about His own glory and their good through those challenges.
And the same is true for you and me—for every genuine believer in this church today. The same God who rules over and provides for His vast universe also rules over the circumstances of the people He has chosen for Himself and has redeemed by the blood of His Son. Nothing can ever come into our lives except what our sovereign Provider God permits; and what He permits, He graciously rules over in such a way that it all perfectly fulfills His purpose for us.
If this is true, then what a glorious, exciting, life-transforming doctrine that is! And I believe with all my heart that it is true.
* * * * * * * * * * *
And then, as we were discussing this at the seminary, I asked those men a follow-up question: How do we put this doctrine into practice? How do we wrap our hands around the providence of our loving God, and grab hold of it in such a way as to have it affect the way we live our daily lives?
We really had a great discussion! Just like good preaching students, everything we thought of started with the same letter! And I told them, “You know, guys; this is probably going to end up being in a sermon sometime soon!” And now, here it is! The credit goes to my dear brothers at the seminary; and I hope that the benefit goes to you and me.
So; what sort of things help us to put the doctrine of God’s gracious providence into practice in our daily lives? The first thing I would suggest is . . .
1. PERSPECTIVE.
By perspective, I mean that we learn to see every individual thing that happens in our lives—whether it’s a big crisis or merely a small incident—as under the control of our sovereign God and somehow serving His good plan for us. We must learn to see everything that comes our way as somehow purposeful in His will.
One of our great faults as Christians is that we often ‘profess’ to believe in the sovereignty of God; but when it comes to the daily matters of life, we behave like functional ‘Deists’. We act as if the little things of life are not a part of His good purposes for us; and we don’t consider that—in reality—God is very much concerned with and involved in all the details of our lives.
Many of us have grown to love Psalm 139; but have you ever considered some of the things that King David wrote in it about God’s personal care for him in it? David wrote;
Lord, You have searched me and known me.
You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.
You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it (Psalm 139:1-6).
He went on to write;
For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You (vv. 13-18).
If it’s true, as Jesus taught us, that not a sparrow can fall to the ground without our Father’s knowledge—and that we are of immeasurably greater value to Him than the sparrows; and if even the very hairs of our head are numbered by the Father; then there is truly nothing in our lives that can ever come upon us that is not profoundly purposeful in the hand of our loving Provider God. It doesn’t matter if it’s something as great as a major life-changing crisis, or as small as yellow traffic light that inconveniences us—everything that God permits to come upon us has a purpose in His good plan for us.
May God help us to learn to see nothing as insignificant and meaningless! May He help us to put every detail of life into perspective with respect to His infinite love and providential care for us!
* * * * * * * * * *
Another means by which I believe we can grab hold of God’s providence in our lives is through . . .
2. PRAYER.
I’ll admit that this is a great mystery to me. But somehow, God—in His sovereign and purposeful plan for us—includes our poor, humble, weak prayers in that great and glorious plan. He allows us, in some way, to influence His sovereign hand. And if I truly believe that He providentially rules over all the details of my life for my good and His glory, and that He graciously listens to my prayers, then I’ll be talking to Him often and earnestly about those details. I’ll keep in touch with Him about them. I’ll pray often—about everything!
I suppose we could say that the opposite of this would be to have an attitude of disregard toward God’s presence and watchful care—to act as if He wasn’t there at all. It would be to almost act as if we were functional atheists; disregarding the reality of God’s presence and care in our lives—in practice anyway, if not in belief. We often run to God in prayer when it comes to what we think are the big and significant matters of life; but we don’t bother to talk to Him about the lesser details—things we think we can handle without Him. And yet, God can turn the direction of our lives on the seemingly small things just as much as on the seemingly big things.
When I think of this, I think of what Paul wrote in Philippians 4:6-7. He urged us to pray about everything when he said;
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).
I’m learning to do that more. I certainly pray about the big events of my life. But I’m also learning to pray and ask for God’s help in making everyday decisions, or in my personal meetings with people, or when I sit down to pay bills, or even when I take off in the car to take care of an errand or to pick up groceries. Everything! And the more that I do so—the more that I talk to God in prayer about the details of my life—the more I appreciate His providential care; because He answers those prayers!
May God help us to be a people of constant, continual prayer! That, I believe, is a very vital way to grab hold of the providence of God in daily life.
* * * * * * * * * *
Now in that passage that I just quoted, Paul spoke of a wonderful result of such faithful prayer; and that’s peace. As a good friend of mine often says, “Do Philippians 4:6, and you’ll get Philippians 4:7.” Pray about everything, and you’ll experience a peace that surpasses all understanding. It’ll be Jesus’ own gift of peace—just as when He said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27).”
And that leads us to yet another way we grab hold of the providence of God; and that’s through . . .
3. PEACE.
But I need to explain what I mean here. The peace that Philippians 4:6-7 talks about is the gracious gift of God—a peace that is not of our making. But when it comes to our grabbing hold of the doctrine of God’s providence, I’m talking about something that is an active choice on our part—a decision to be in a state of peace.
Here, I suppose the opposite of what I’m talking about would be to ‘worry’ or ‘fret’. When a crisis or some trying circumstance suddenly comes into our lives—if we’re forgetting the providence of God—our first reaction is to panic. Or if it’s a crisis that falls on someone else we love, we often become anxious for them. But the moment we stop and remember the wonderful doctrine of God’s providence in our lives and in the lives of those we love, we can calm our hearts down and be at ease. We can remember that the circumstance that we’re concerned about is also the concern of our loving and powerful God. We might not be able to do something about it right then, but He can. And in the light of that fact—in the light of the knowledge that He ‘has’ this—we can choose to be at peace about it.
Think of what Jesus once taught regarding the providential care of God. In the Sermon on the Mount, He said;
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you (Matthew 6:25-33).
I love that passage. Do you realize that, in it, the Son of God gives us permission to completely cease from all worry in life? He’s not calling us to become indifferent and stoic about the circumstances of life, of course. Rather, He’s telling us that when those circumstances come, we should remember the constant care of our loving heavenly Father, and choose to be at peace.
That, I believe, is a very important way that we are to grab hold of the doctrine of God’s providence in daily living. Cease from being anxious! Remember God’s care for us, and choose to be at peace!
* * * * * * * * * *
And another way is . . .
4. PRAISE.
If I know that God is in absolute control of all things that concern me, and that He never lets any circumstance or trial come into my life except for what will prove to be for my good and His glory, then I can thank Him as soon as it comes! I can even praise Him for it.
I suppose that the opposite would be to complain or grouch about it. Complaining and grouching about the circumstances of life is almost as much as openly denying that God is in control and that He means good for us in all that happens. We all fall into this at times, of course. But really, chronic complaining and grouching have no place in the life of a genuine believer. Paul once wrote;
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
I had an experience some years ago. I had an opportunity to stay at a beach house on the Oregon Coast for a few days of get-away; and as I made my way home on an old isolated road in my old blue van, I heard a noise from the road. I looked in my rear-view mirror and saw some car parts rolling on the road behind me. Since I was the only one on the road, I suspected that they might be mine—and that they might be important. I pulled over and found that, even though I wasn’t exactly sure what they were, they were definitely mine. And then when I turned to look, I could see several belts hanging from the bottom of my van’s engine.
So; there I was. I wasn’t sure where I was; and I wasn’t sure what had just happened to my van; and it was growing dark. But just before I started to complain, I remembered that God was in control. In fact, I remembered that I had been in situations like this before; and God had always provided. And so, instead of complaining, I thanked Him instead. “Thank you, Father, for this situation. I’ve been in fixes like this in the past; and You’ve always proven faithful. So, I ask that You help me to know what to do. In fact, Father, I’m even going to just go ahead and praise You in advance! It’ll be fun to see what You do!”
I wasn’t exactly sure; but I had thought that I had just passed through a town. It was so small that it wasn’t noticeable. So, I took the chance, turned the van around with great difficulty, and slowly drove it back—even as the engine was heating up. And about a mile later, I came to the town and stopped right in front of—believe it or not—a auto mechanic’s shop that was just closing. Out came the mechanic on a phone, saying, “Okay. I see him.” Then he turned off the phone and said, “You the guy with the broken van?” I thought it was obvious; but I said, “Yes. By the way; how did you know?” He said that one of his customers was driving out of town and saw me.
He brought the van in; but found that they needed to order parts—which wouldn’t be in until the next day. “Can you wait for a day?” he asked. I made a quick phone call and found that I could stay for an extra day in the beach house! Then, the mechanic’s father drove me there; and picked me up the next day. I got an extra day at the beach house! And by the way—the repairs cost only $250. And when I got home, I found that we had received an unexpected check in the mail for . . . well . . . you’ll never guess how much!
God taught me that day that He is in control. But more, He taught me to respond to that control by praise and thanks—even in the most difficult of circumstances. That’s how we grab hold of His providence!
* * * * * * * * * *
Let me just quickly share a few other ways. One way is by . . .
5. PARTICIPATION.
What I mean here is that we recognize that God is providential in the things that He allows into our lives; and that we show our faith in that fact by cooperating with Him in what He is doing through the things He allows.
The opposite of this would be to stubbornly fight Him and resist Him in them. We don’t gain anything when we do that; because He loves us too much, and insists that we learn the lessons we need to learn. If we won’t learn them then, we’ll have to learn them later. How much better it is to respond to God’s providence in the circumstances of our lives by cooperating with Him in them—just as Pastor James wrote in James 1:2-4;
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing (James 1:2-4).
Another way is through . . .
6. PROSPECT.
And by this, I mean that we recognize the providence of God in our lives by looking beyond the circumstances that we’re in to the end that God is seeking to produce in us through them.
We would be failing to do this if we only looked at the here-and-now in our circumstances; rather than far into the glorious future that God has for us—where He will reward us for our faithful endurance. As Peter wrote;
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ . . . (1 Peter 1:6-7).
And finally, I really appreciated what one of those seminary students said helped him grab hold of the providential care of God in his life; and that is . . .
7. PROCLAMATION.
What he meant by this was that—rather than keep it to himself—he learned to proclaim and ‘preach’ the reality of God’s constant and continual providence to other people in his life. He said, “When I preach it to others in their lives when they need to hear it, they’ll turn around and preach it to me when I need to hear it.”
That’s great advice! And in looking at all these ways that we can grab hold of God’s providence in such a way as to have it make a difference in our lives, then we have lots of good things to proclaim and preach to one another.
* * * * * * * * * *
Let me close with a wonderful quote that I discovered not long ago. It’s from an old-time Bible teacher that I have grown to love named Alan Redpath. He wrote;
There is nothing—no circumstance, no trouble, no testing—that can ever touch me until, first of all, it has gone past God and past Christ, right through to me. If it has come that far, it has come with a great purpose, which I may not understand at the moment; but as I refuse to become panicky, as I lift my eyes up to Him and accept it as coming from the throne of God for some great purpose of blessing to my own heart, no sorrow will ever disturb me, no trial will ever disarm me, no circumstance will cause me to fret, for I shall rest in the joy of what my Lord is. That is the rest of victory.1
So; in the circumstances of life, dear brothers and sisters, let’s not act as if our God is not the providential God that He is. Let’s not act as if He is uninvolved, or as if He was not listening. Let’s not become panicky, or grouchy. Let’s not be obstinate, or fall victim to despair. Let’s put the wonderful doctrine of God’s gracious providence into practice through keeping each circumstance in perspective, through our prayers, through a decision to have peace, through our praise and thanks to Him, through our willing participation in His purposes, through our forward look of joy, and through our proclamation of His providence to one another!
May God help us to do the things we need to do in order to put His gracious providence into practice in daily life—and all to His glory!
Alan Redpath, Victorious Christian Living (Westwood, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1955), p. 166.