I’ve recently been listening to Alistair Begg’s excellent series on Esther and the doctrine of the providence of God (The Unseen God, Volume 1), and would highly recommend it to you. You can listen to it on the Truth for Life website here http://www.truthforlife.org/resources/series/unseen-god-volume-1-esther/, or on the Truth for Life podcast, which you can subscribe to on iTunes. It got me to thinking about how God has orchestrated events in my life, my wife Tammy’s life and my sister-in-law Teri’s life that were difficult and painful at the time, but upon reflection have turned out for good. The Westminster Shorter Catechism defines God’s works of providence as “His most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing of all his creatures and all their actions”. The providence of God is simply God’s involvement in the world. Jerry Bridges defines providence as God’s “constant care for and His absolute rule over all His creation for His own glory and the good of His people.”
Below are five events that I would like to share with you that clearly show the hand of God in our lives:
- Three years into our marriage Tammy was diagnosed with a brain tumor. After having it removed it would later return and she had surgery again a little more than four years later. Prior to the surgery, Tammy had achieved her CPA (Certified Professional Accountant) designation and had a career goal of as she calls it, “the 3 C’s – cash, car and clothes.” But her illness significantly changed her perspective on life and she turned to a life of volunteerism: A Catholic Worker house, a soup kitchen, hospice, our church and now as a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate), among others.
- I experienced some difficult and challenging circumstances at work about ten years ago. Those circumstances, and John Piper’s book Don’t Waste Your Life (along with the Bible which is the book that has the greatest impact on my life) were used to lead me to re-apply at Covenant Theological Seminary, eventually graduating last May.
- Tammy and I started a church newsletter in September, 1998. We produced it monthly until the end of 2013. By 2013, the newsletter was averaging in excess of 30 pages! God then worked in events that led us to stop producing it as a church newsletter and change instead to a blog format with a greater reach. Now the blog has a much larger readership than the church newsletter ever had.
- Those same events led my wife to leave a position she held for more than nineteen years. After seeking the Lord’s direction for her life for about a year, she felt called to apply to be a CASA, an assignment she has recently started.
- My sister-in-law Teri, one of our guest bloggers, ran into difficult circumstances in a position that she had loved for years. Her energy and voice gave out after many years of teaching and she knew the Lord was saying she was done teaching the program. Her heart was still in it, but she could no longer do well what was required to maintain the program. This eventually led to her leaving that position, with much sadness. About a year later, after seeking the Lord’s direction, she was called to be the Director of the Spoon River Pregnancy Center – http://www.spoonriverpregnancycenter.com/.
These situations, and many more over the years, have resulted in pain, tears and strained relationships. But the Lord has used these difficult circumstances for good. I love the story of Joseph (and Alistair Begg’s excellent book on Joseph and God’s Providence – The Hand of God: Finding His Care in All Circumstances). One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Genesis 50:20, which says in part:
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.
So don’t lose heart dear people if you are going through dark days and circumstances that you never thought you would. God is in charge and He uses all things for good for His people:
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)