Word of Encouragement (4/6/2020)
We continue our reflection on the importance of beginning our prayer with adoration. Last time, we spoke of praising God for His creation. As you probably expected, we should also praise God for His providence. Providence is everything God does to preserve and govern the world and all His creatures and drive them all to His intended goal: God “works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Eph. 1:11); “he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col. 1:17); “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).
Praising God for His providence is something we should be able to do readily. By His providence God provides us with all that we have and enjoy in this life—from our life and health and abilities to our relationships and possessions and achievements, etc. So, David begins Ps. 103 in this way: “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits…” (Ps. 103:1-2). We should delight in praising God for His providential care for us. It should be like looking at our photo albums of our childhood and special occasions and memorable vacations and trips, reliving and relishing those wonderful moments. Remembering all the goodness God has shown us in the past should give us the confidence that we need to face our present challenges. “Through may dangers, toils and snares we have already come. T’was grace that brought us safe thus far and grace will lead me home.”
Here it is important to understand the gracious nature of God’s providence. God’s providence is His care of the fallen world and its sinful people, who deserve God’s wrath and punishment. But for the sake of saving His elect, God is preserving the world. To that end, God extends His common grace. It is called “common” because it is for all; it is called “grace” because it is something that the fallen world and its sinful occupants do not deserve. This is important for us to remember because we are prone to complain about the little things we don’t have rather than praise God for His countless blessings in our lives. There are also times when we go through “dark providence” (and we can view what we are going through on account of COVID 19 as such). If we remember that God is sustaining this world, including our lives, by His common grace, we should be able to confess, no matter how difficult our life gets, “I’m doing better than I deserve.”
But let us not forget that what we are going through, however difficult and challenging it may be, is not the end of God’s care for us. As Paul assures us, “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). May we learn to praise God not only for the obvious blessings God has lavished on us far beyond our deserving but also for the “dark providence” we may be walking through, knowing that He will not fail to bring us to the Green Pastures and Quiet Waters in heaven!