Providential Presumptions

There is a danger in interpreting the providence of God in our own lives. At times we feel as though we have the inside track on the divine counsel only to find how far off we actually are in our understanding of God's providence. Then what happens? Do we repent and turn back to our God in the mercy offered to us in Christ or do we harden our hearts for the wrong we believe we have received because things did not go or turn out the way we thought they should? Perhaps the greatest danger for the "new calvinists" is that their beliefs may be tested in the fiery trials of everyday life.

J.I. Packer on our providential presumptions:

This comforting pretense becomes part of us: we feel sure that God has enabled us to understand all his ways with us and our circle thus far, and we take it for granted that we shall be able to see at once the reason for anything that may happen to us in the future.

And then something very painful and quite inexplicable comes along, and our cheerful illusion of being in God's secret councils is shattered. Our pride is wounded; we feel that God has slighted us; and unless at this point we repent and humble ourselves very thoroughly for our former presumption, our whole subsequent spiritual life may be blighted.

Among the seven deadly sins of medieval lore was sloth (acedia) - a state of hard-bitten, joyless apathy of spirit. There is a lot of it around today in Christian circles; the symptoms are personal spiritual inertia combined with critical cynicism about the churches and supercilious resentment of other Christians' initiative and enterprise.

Behind this morbid and deadening condition often lies the wounded pride of one who thought he knew all about the ways of God in providence and then was made to learn by bitter and bewildering experience that he didn't. 

-J.I. Packer, Knowing God, p.106

A Fallen Sparrow

I guess it just flew right into the side of the house. On the way out to dinner this evening, the boys and I noticed something on the ground, something that was not a part of the landscape. A dead sparrow lay there on the ground and we wondered how it got there. A few minutes later Christen was able to help us put the pieces together when she recalled hearing an unexplained "thump" outside the kitchen early this morning. Camdyn and Cayde were amazed to see wildlife up close and personal even if it was just a dead sparrow. We disposed of the bird and quickly headed out for some barbecue with some close friends, but this occasion provided great conversation for us as a family. My mind quickly ran to the following passage of Scripture:

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. Not one. Not even the one that falls two millenia later in Southeast Georgia when flying into someone's home. God is sovereign, absolutely sovereign, and he governs the universe by his providence.1 Even the smallest of details in the smallest of creatures are all governed by the Sovereign Lord. The very hairs of our heads are numbered, Jesus says.

What do we gather from this? Comfort. It is not comforting to know that God is sovereign; it is comforting to know that God is good in his sovereignty. It is comforting to know what Jesus says, that we are not to fear for we are of more value than many sparrows. What freedom we have in this knowledge of God's sovereign goodness! The King who upholds all things cares for us. We know this, not because of a dead bird, but because of a dead Son. There was never a more heinous crime than the murder of the Son of God, yet the Father decreed the slaughter of Jesus and he did so for our sake in order to reconcile us to himself.

1. Q. 11. What are God’s works of providence?
A. God’s works of providence are, his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.

What is This Day Telling Us?

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat (Psalm 19:1-6).

Psalm 28:8-9

The Lord is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed. Oh, save your people and bless your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever (Psalm 28:8-9).

How often do God's very people forget that He alone is their strength. Our minds run to the wilderness where not long after a song of deliverance the people were accusing their Suzerain King of bringing them out into the desert to starve them to death. They had forgotten that He was their saving refuge, that the desert was the conduit to the awaited Promised Land. They had forgotten that the Lord was their Shepherd and was carrying them; even with a cloud by day and fire by night.

I never cease to be amazed by my own unbelief. One would think by now that my sin would not surprise me. Maybe it isn't the sin that surprises me, but that I get caught in the same entanglements; doubt, forgetfulness, and even unbelief. The enemy loves to attack us but our Lord uses his assaults to remove confidence in ourselves and to give us hope in God. His other approach is to weaken our confidence in God's character. "Hath God said" is the old familiar line. "Come on," he seems to say, "God is holding out on you. He can't be truly good."

How often do we forget the goodness of God, only to be reminded again in His Word? How often do we forget the sovereignty of God and that the wilderness is the purposeful means to an end? But God alone is our strength, He is our saving refuge. He is our shepherd; watching, feeding, and carrying us forward to the conforming of His image.

God Moves in a Mysterious Way by William Cowper

Never in my Christian life have I trusted more in God's mysterious sovereignty than now; never have I had to more than now. He is faithful, He is all wise, and His Word sustains me in every hour. These words have been especially encouraging as of late:

1. God moves in a mysterious way
   His wonders to perform;
   He plants His footsteps in the sea
   And rides upon the storm.
2. Deep in unfathomable mines
   Of never failing skill
   He treasures up His bright designs
   And works His sov’reign will.
3. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
   The clouds ye so much dread
   Are big with mercy and shall break
   In blessings on your head.
4. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
   But trust Him for His grace;
   Behind a frowning providence
   He hides a smiling face.
5. His purposes will ripen fast,
   Unfolding every hour;
   The bud may have a bitter taste,
   But sweet will be the flow’r.
6. Blind unbelief is sure to err
   And scan His work in vain;
   God is His own interpreter,
   And He will make it plain.