The Providence of God
Good Morning Friends,
Wednesday night, at choir, we practiced a song that is a paraphrase of Psalm 23 and in meditating on it the director was led to one word that is the focus of today’s devotional. This song we are scheduled to sing on Sunday asks this question, “Oh what shall I want of thy Providence more?” The answer is in the last verse: “The Lord is my Shepherd, no want shall I know.” Friends, know that God’s farsighted provision, wisdom, prudence and sense of simple perfection reveals the means of redemption and that is The Providence of God.
Scripture: The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all.
Genesis 45:5-8
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
Psalm 23 (NRSV)
The Lord says, “I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
Isaiah 43:19 (NRSV)
You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
Genesis 50:20 (NRSV)
Message: Today we get a message of how God always makes a way for Divine Will. In it we get an echo of Genesis and the story of Joseph and his brothers. And we see what God foresaw. We discover that what man meant for evil, God can use for good…what man uses for harm, God uses for Divine glory. It is the story of Jesus on the cross. And in this experience we learn that God wants to complete His redemptive work in those around us. In the midst of our tears we must be willing to say, “your will God, not my own.” Here we learn obedience in our suffering. Here we learn that God may choose to make us, through our suffering into a source of salvation to others even as He did with Jesus. It is hard to believe that any good can come from this dark and dirty experience but then it is also hard to believe that God sent His Son to die on a cross. Friends, today’s word is Providence and describes the means by which God directs all things — both animate and inanimate, seen and unseen, good and evil — toward a worthy purpose. This means that God’s will must finally prevail. We have choices but are delusional if we think that God’s purposes can be circumvented. Thankfully God did not just create but is recreating every moment and is directing history every moment. Look in the rear view mirror and have faith in an all-wise and designing Redeemer who creates all things with the future in view. Shakespeare in Hamlet V, ii, 10 put it this way, “there’s a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will.”
Pray that God turn around those painful situations in our lives and transform them for His glory. Pray as you wake up this morning and know that God does not roll dice but instead influences though circumstances a Divine Destiny. Pray as the psalmist declared that goodness and mercy will follow us. Pray that there is a God in heaven who not only knows our sins, but also knows and cares about all of our joys, tears, aches, and fears. Pray that we would sing even in our suffering. Pray that we would love God and be called to His purposes lifting up His name, even as we are lifted up out of our valleys to continue our walk with the Good Shepherd in joy. Pray we realize that our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer purposed in eternity past to make us His own inheritance. Pray we realize that the Shepherd is in control. Pray we realize that the Spirit has planned for us to connect with and respond to the Shepherd King’s appointments in our lives. Pray we know that when we forgive we get a glimpse of the Kingdom.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 