How Then Should We Live in Light of What We Know of God’s Providence
From God are all things (Rom 11:36a). Good things and bad things have their purpose as all things return to God (Rom 11:36c). God informs His children what is going on in His story. God grants blessed assurance to His own, in revealing Himself to them. God is sovereign and in control, and this knowledge is a comfort to everyone who calls upon His name.
God cares for His chosen people, as a Good Shepherd cares for His flock (Ps 23; Jn 10). He supplies their needs. He provides and protects. Establishing a covenant with terms for the relationship, God is faithful to fulfill His self-imposed obligations to keep the covenant. God has stated, “They shall be My people and I will be their God (Jer 32:38).”
As God’s children, our heavenly Father surely knows what is best for each one of His own adopted ones. We learn what is best by studying and hearing God’s Word. The Bible informs us. The Spirit teaches us, and it does not take much to see how far out of alignment we are from God’s revealed will found in His Word.
Soon, the new believer begins to pray. Prayer is a demonstration of our faith in the One we call upon — to give thanks and to ask for help in the quest for re-alignment. The Christian knows where his or her help comes from and this is why Christians are people of prayer. In a world of danger, sheep draw near to their shepherd for help, comfort, and instruction. Christians draw near to God in Christ, who is our Good Shepherd.
When the doctrine of providence is grasped by the believer in Jesus, then communion with God is sought. Constrained by what we know, and especially by the love that compels us, it is the desire of the grateful to want to serve. Service to God always comes with a spirit of humility and is void of self-seeking credit or glory.
What the child of God needs most is grace from God. The grace of God is God working everything to fulfill His will, in the life of His adopted one.
The rigors of God’s discipline, to mature His beloved children, will be a combination of adversity and grace in the face of adversity. The Christian bears witness of the working of God to meet his needs, and it becomes his or her regular testimony.
New life, for the born again, is now one of waiting. Because our hope is not in this world, we wait for the Lord to come for us in death or at His glorious appearing on the last day. While we wait (time elapsing), we wait on the Lord (as in a waiter at a restaurant). This is how patience is manifest in the Christian’s life (Gal 5:22).
Laboring as unto the Lord is a labor of love. It is powered by the Spirit of Christ, who wisely directs the steps of His people. Believers bear a cross for sure, but God’s grace is sufficient for us. Knowing there is meaning and purpose in everything, the maturing believer endures what may come as sorrow, burden, trial, affliction, persecution, etc.
With eyes fixed on Jesus, the race is run, the fight is fought in the wisdom and power of God, which is sought by prayer, toward the One who is in total control of all things, people, and events.
The internal spiritual warfare is real. Human flesh is weak, and discipline is hard. The spirit is willing to obey, but the flesh sins against God. This invites discipline from the Lord, and one’s attitude is then tested.
When diverse difficulties come, it is no longer in the Christian to curse God as the unbelievers do, but here is the test by which the Christian is given a view to his or her status by God. What is the current state of your faith? God, in His providential working, is purposeful to show the saint just how saintly he is in reality. Failure is good medicine because it brings contemplation, and the grace of repentance causes the re-alignment.
Hatred of sin increases within these cycles observed throughout the Christian life. Sin is a problem that causes more problems. The weary sinner turns from her love of sin, to loathing that which adds trouble to hers and others’ daily walk. This work of God’s Spirit is called, “sanctification.” Set apart from sin, the child desires to be holy as his Father in heaven is holy.
If love compels us forward, then hope is pulling us forward. The Christian hope is Christ and the glory in which He now resides. Christian, you have a hope and future that is nearer than when you first believed. This present suffering is not to be compared to what will soon be revealed to us in glory.
If you are not a Christian, today, then know that the opposite of all that has been stated here is true for you. If God is against you, who can possibly be for you? Living in the swamp of unbelief is fruitless for you. You only hurt yourself by not turning from sin to Christ. Even God’s good gifts are a burden and a curse to you. His summons is not optional. You must appear before the Judge of the living and the dead.
When will you come to Judge Jesus? By His grace you will come, today. By His judgment you will be arrested and brought to trial in the only just court of Law in the universe. Consider your plight. Consider Christ, God’s solution to your plight. Consider your faith and rejoice. Consider your unbelief and your vain cursing now and forevermore. You belong to Christ, or you do not, and you will live one of those realities based on His providence, which is based on His will, which is based on His good pleasure.
David Norczyk
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
August 4, 2021
