Houseguests and Providence
When was the last time you had special guests in your home? Do you remember the hours leading up to their arrival? Odds are, you spent a great deal of effort getting ready. There was cleaning and straightening up to do. There was food to be purchased and prepared. Perhaps you even hauled out the family china and polished up the silver. You took care to look your best. You wanted to honor your guest and you wanted you and your guests to be able to sit back and enjoy one another’s company.
Did you know that God Himself is, right now, making preparations for you? The word providence comes from two Latin words, “care” and “preparation beforehand.” For the Christian, this means that everything needed for good to prevail has already been provided. When we encounter problems or pain, trials or troubles, God has already made His preparation for us to be safe and secure no matter what occurs in our lives.
Of course, your guests likely had little idea of all the things you had done to prepare for their coming. Likewise, they could not imagine what awaited them. Their assurance rested in their confidence in you. They trusted you and knew that you would take care of them.
Likewise, it is Paul’s belief in the goodness of a God that allows him to write, even through terrible events, “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love Him and are called by Him.” Note that Paul doesn’t say, as some do, “It’s all good.” Instead, Paul banks on his belief that God is good.
A good God has assured us that He is working amid the clutter and dust of life to care for us. Through his power and love he is preparing for a time when we will be with Him. The more we believe this wonderful truth, the more we are able to rest and be at peace.
—Rev. James R. Needham, PhD, MDiv
Today’s reading offers us solace in the midst of life’s storms. With the psalmist, we can declare, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). We can count on Paul’s promise in Romans 8, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Breathe deeply. The ask yourself, as you face this day, will you choose to believe that whatever comes, God is good and that because he is good nothing will happen that He cannot and will not bring good out of? What do you specifically need to trust Him with? And then pray: Help me, Father, to trust You when days are dark and nights seem long. Give me strength to yield to your plan and accept Your “providence” in everything, in Jesus’ name! —DH
—David Hoskins, Founder & Care Guide, Sanctuary Clinics