Providence

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​Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. Psalm 115:3 ESV
 
The day that I believed that the Lord was calling me to ministry was a day set up by the providence of God as well as a day I realized God’s providence in my whole life! Let me explain. I was at church camp the summer before I started high school. Sometime during the middle of the day there was a bible study time that was not taught by the main camp preacher. The guy who was speaking that day was talking about our “testimonies” of how we became Christians. He started to talk about how he had always believed himself to have a boring testimony. He was born to believing parents who brought him to church, he was saved at a young age, he didn’t have to hit rock bottom to come to Christ. This caught my attention because he was pretty much describing my testimony as well.  Then he said that his testimony wasn’t boring, it was a great story of God’s grace and mercy.  He didn’t have to endure a rock bottom to come to Christ! He said he later realized that his upbringing by Christian parents and his lifelong discipleship in the church was God preparing him for ministry. When he said this, I knew the Lord was speaking right at me. God in His providence placed me at that camp, that day, with that speaker, so that I would realize that God in His providence had been shaping me my whole life to prepare me to serve Him and His church. John Piper defines providence as God’s purposeful sovereignty. God’s sovereignty means He can do whatever He wants whenever He wants, providence points to how God uses His sovereignty with divine purpose and design. 
 
Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” … And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ. Acts 9:3-4,20-22 ESV
 
Paul (Saul in the above verse) was on his way to persecute Christians when the Lord Jesus Christ intercepted him on the road to Damascus. By God’s providence a man who was wreaking havoc on the church became one of the Lord’s Apostles. A man who once put Christians in chains became someone who by the power of the Holy Spirit led people out of the bondage of sin. But like my testimony above, God’s providence can be seen in Paul’s whole life. Paul was a Pharisee and a son of a Pharisee (Acts 23:6, Philippians 3:5), this means he was well educated in the Scriptures and zealous in his pursuit of Judaism (Galatians 1:13-14). If the gospel of Jesus Christ were a puzzle, Paul was a guy who had all the pieces set before him, he even had sections half-way put together, and on the road to Damascus he finally could see what picture the puzzle was making. In a similar way by God’s providence someone was put before you to share the gospel with you! By God’s providence your unique life experience has been preparing you for the work of every Christian, to glorify God by making disciples!
 
And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
Acts 8:27-28 ESV
 
In Acts 8, Philip walks up on this Ethiopian reading from the prophet Isaiah. What a lucky coincidence for Philip! Except it’s not luck and it’s no coincidence but the providence of God. This is a divine appointment. In verse twenty-six an angel of the Lord tells Philip to go that direction but doesn’t say why. Philip doesn’t need the why. The why was given by the Lord Jesus Christ in the Great Commission to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). The Great Commission is for us today as well. We are to “Go” and while we are going “make disciples.” Knowing who to share the gospel with is easy because we know that “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23ESV). ALL! ALL is who we share the gospel with because ALL people need the gospel! Just as God placed people in your life to share the gospel with you, He will place you in others’ lives so that they will hear the gospel from you! You might never walk up on someone who is reading a messianic prophecy from the book of Isaiah but that doesn’t mean you’ll never walk up on someone that the Lord in His providence is drawing to Himself. So go and make disciples! Take courage! Be Bold! The Lord is with us!
 
There is a lot more to be said about God’s providence. A couple years ago I bought a new book from John Piper entitled Providence. Piper is one of my favorite authors, so I knew I had to get this book. When the book came in, I was shocked. I was shocked because it is huge with over 700 pages! I thought I had a good understanding of God’s providence, but I can assure you I do not know enough to write 700 pages! The book has remained intimidating on my shelf, but I have decided to start reading it. I should be finished reading it in a couple…months! Check back later this year for a review!