Sweet Providence

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.

-Romans 8:28-30

It has been surprising to me how many conversations that I have had with people about God's providence lately. I asked one of the girls that I disciple which book of the Bible she would like to go through and she said Ruth. I was really excited about that and was even more excited when I found out just the next day that that is the book that Pastor Mark would be going through on Sunday mornings as well. Beyond that just being a funny and seemingly coincidental story, the book of Ruth is all about God's providence!

Last week I spoke with another girl and our whole conversation was centered around God's providence and how amazing it is when we step back or we are just far enough removed from a situation to see how God worked everything out and how I do not see how it is possible for anyone to come to any other conclusion except that it was God who did it. No one in the world could ever work so many different situations in different people's lives together so perfectly and all the while for their GOOD! We serve an awesome God.

Just a day or so after that encouraging conversation I spoke with another girl and our conversation also seemed to lean towards God's providence. The things that happen in our lives that we think are just small and insignificant are never as they seem. God uses EVERY experience and every situation to grow us and for His glory.

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

-Romans 5:3-5

As if all of that was not enough I had yet another conversation with a girl this week about a situation she is going through. We all need reminding sometimes, as she did, that God does not put us in any situation by accident. Nothing is going on in our lives that God has not perfectly orchestrated and let's not forget, for our GOOD.

I have shared with some people in the past about how I have personally seen God's providence in my own life. One of the sweetest and most memorable was in the time leading up to and even after my brother Scott's death. I'll share just a few. When Scott was in Iraq they did a "random" drawing of social security numbers to see who could go home for two weeks leave. It "just so happened" that Scott was one of the first to get that privilege and he got to come home and spend two weeks with us in October. At that point it had been a while since we had last seen him. The two weeks he spent with us were sweet but short. At the end we took him to the airport and said our goodbyes. Never did the thought enter my mind that that would be our final goodbye. As some of you know, Scott was killed in Iraq in April of 2004. Beyond just God allowing us to spend those precious two weeks with him, God was also working in each of our lives separately in the time leading up to April 5. I have described those months before as a time that I have never felt closer to God. I know that that was by design and not mistake. God had done that for me because He knew what was going to happen and because He LOVES me, He pulled me close in those months before and was able to comfort and hold me in a way that would not have happened if He had not. This is just a small glimpse into the many ways that God made Himself known to me and my family during that time. I am so grateful for those times and that God is now allowing me to see and recognize them. What a gracious and loving God we serve!

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

-James 1:2-4

I want to challenge you to think about the situations in your own life that have been hard and examine them with Biblical lenses. If you still are unable to see how God has used that situation for your good then I challenge you to ask Him to show you. And if you have not thanked God for them, I challenge you to do that as well.

Soli Deo Gloria!