Divine Seed

God’s Providence

Daily, we are faced with the troubles of life. Constantly we are hit with difficulties and problems, some of which have become a reproach. We are saddened by them as they stand akimbo steering us straight into our faces. For some, theirs are as tall as Mount Everest in the continent of Asia; there are those whose problems are deep as the Niagara Falls in Canada. There are also those whose difficulties meander like the ancient Meander River in present day Turkey. Call them challenges (like most of us in this age would prefer to call them), they are part of our lives and there is no time we can be completely free from them while here on earth (Romans 8:22-23). The new age form of faith or positive confessions will not hinder or eradicate life’s challenges completely from our lives. Job 14:1 says ‘Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble.’ The challenges of life did not start with our generation neither will they end with us. It had been there, even in biblical times. The apostles of the early church had a heavy dose of sufferings, persecutions, tribulations, deaths etc (Acts 7:57-60; 2 Corinthians chapters 6 and 11). Hebrews 11:37-39 (NLT) says ‘36 Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. 37 Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. 38 They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.39 All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised.’ Dear Reader did you notice how the bible in verse 39 says that: ‘All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith’? That is they were people of faith. But they suffered. Their faith did not imply that their lives will be devoid of sufferings, persecutions, deaths etc. What they had was a trusting faith which made them obedient to God and surrendering completely to God’s will for their lives. Theirs was a living faith, not the ‘abracadabra faith’ that many of us in this generation confess. Their understanding of God is different from what many of us in this age know of God. They knew that ‘God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God’ (Romans 8:28). God making everything (good and evil, seen and unseen, animate and inanimate) to work together towards a worthy purpose is what is described as God’s providence.

We see God’s providential working in the life of Joseph. He was there when Joseph was to be sold by his brothers as a slave into Egypt; He was with him when Potiphar’s wife lied against him and had him thrown into prison; he was with him in prison when he interpreted the dreams of the chief butler and the chief baker. He knew when the chief butler forgot Joseph for two whole years. In fact He orchestrated all these events in the life of Joseph in order to connect him to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, who eventually made him the prime minister of Egypt. Joseph himself summarised this when he said in Genesis 50:20 ‘But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.’ Have you asked what would have been become of Joseph if the chief butler had remembered him before Pharaoh had the dream? Joseph would possibly have gone his way and would have been nowhere in sight when he was needed most. It was therefore part of God’s providence that the chief butler forgot him in order to bring to pass what He had destined for Joseph. I pray God that we will there at the time we are needed most in Jesus’ name, Amen. Let us learn to worry less when we are not recognised for our good works or services in places of work, church, family etc. The Lord is looking for the most appropriate time for our recognition. Mordecai who reported the plans of Bigtha and Teresh (the king’s two chamberlains) to assassinate king Ahasuerus (Xerxes) was not rewarded until the time God knew that it would be most appropriate to do so. He made king Ahasuerus have a sleepless night when the need arose for Mordecai to be exalted by Mordecai by his enemy, Haman (Esther 2:21-22; Esther 6:1-10). The Lord will cause all those crucial for our promotions to be restless until they do what God wants them to do for us in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Conclusion
God did not after He created the heaven and the earth abandon the world to be on auto-run. He is involved in the lives of His people and in the care of His creation (irrespective of the situations we face in life). He said in Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) to the Jewish exiles that were taken captives in Babylon ‘For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ He allowed Paul the apostle to suffer affliction because He wanted to keep him away from being proud (2 Corinthians 12:7-. It was God’s providential working that grace was made available in order to make him (Paul) to keep trusting God.

Brethren, there is always a future for every obedient child of God, no matter their circumstances. It is erroneous to believe that every serious affliction is the result of sin or ancestral curses or demonic powers. Some of them like we have already seen are allowed by God in order to bring to the fore the glory of God (John 9:1-3; 11:4).

We have by the grace of God, proclaimed to you the Word of Truth. This truth endures forever and is same from generation to generation (Psalm 117:2; Psalm 100:5). He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches (Revelation 2:29).

God bless you in Jesus’ name, Amen.