Providence

Examples of Providence

Eze 36:9-11 I am for you. I will turn you. You will be cultivated and sown. I will multiply men in the house of Israel, and the cities and wastelands will be rebuilt and inhabited. Both the people and their herds will multiply, and the land will be fruitful. I will cause all Israel to be inhabited as it was before, and I will treat you even better than I did then. In all this, you will know that I am the LORD.
Eze 36:28-38 You will live in the land I gave your forefathers as My people, and I will be Your God. I will save you from all your impurity. I will cause your grain and your fruit to multiply, keeping the disgrace of famine from you. Then you will remember your sinful ways and loathe yourself because of them. I am not doing all this for you. Understand that. Be ashamed and perplexed because of your ways, O Israel! On the day that I cleanse you, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the wastelands to be rebuilt. What are now desolate lands will be cultivated. Those who see will declare that the wasteland has become like Eden. They will see the ruined cities rebuilt and strong. Then the nations around you will know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt the land. I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it. I will also allow Israel to ask me to increase their number. They will be as numerous as the flock for sacrifices. I will fill the cities with them. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
Da 5:18 God Most High granted rule, glory, and majesty to Nebuchadnezzar.
Da 6:20-22 Has God been able to deliver you from the lions? Indeed, God sent angels to shut their mouths, and they have done no harm, for I was found innocent before Him, and before the king I have committed no crime.
Hos 2:8 My people don't recognize that I am the one who gave them grain and wine and oil. I am the one who showered them with silver and gold, yet they have used all this for Baal.
Hos 2:21-22 In that day I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth, and the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine, and the oil, and all these will respond to Jezreel.
Hos 11:3 I taught Ephraim to walk, and took them in My arms. But they did not know that I healed them.
Joel 2:18-26 The LORD will be zealous for His land, and take pity on His people. He will answer His people. "I am sending you grain, new wine, and oil enough to satisfy you to the full. Never again will you be a reproach among the nations. I will remove the northern army, and drive it into the desert. I will push its vanguards into the seas. Its foul stench will come up because it has done great things." Fear not! Rejoice and be glad, for the LORD has done great things. Fear not, you beasts of the field, for the wilderness pastures have turned green, and the trees are bearing. Both fig tree and vine yield in full their fruits. Rejoice, you sons of Zion! Be glad in the LORD your God! For He has brought the early rain to vindicate you, He has poured rain down for you in its seasons, just as in prior times. Grain will fill the threshing floors, and vats will overflow with wine and oil. "I will make up to you for the years that the locusts ate, all those locusts of My army which I sent among you. And you shall have plenty and be satisfied. You shall praise the name of the LORD your God, because He has dealt so wonderfully with you. Never again will My people be put to shame."
Am 4:7-12 I held back the rains when the harvest was still three months away. I would rain on one city, but not another, water one part but leave another to dry up. Thus, two or three cities would stagger to one city to drink, but they would not be satisfied. Even so, You have not returned to Me. I sent scorching winds, mildew, and caterpillars into your gardens, yet you don't return to Me. I sent a plague among you like the ones I sent into Egypt. I killed your youth by sword as well as your captured horses, I caused the stench of your camp to rise up before Me, yet you have not returned to Me. I overthrew you as God did to Sodom and Gomorrah; you were like a firebrand snatched from the fire. Yet you have not returned to Me. Therefore, I will do this to you, O Israel, and because I will do this, prepare to meet your God, O Israel.
Am 9:13 Days will come when the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the one who treads the grapes will catch him who sows the seed. The mountains will drip with wine, and the hills will be dissolved.
Jnh 4:6 God appointed a plant to grow over Jonah and shade his head so as to deliver him from his discomfort. Jonah was very happy about this.
Hag 2:19 Isn't your seed still in the barn? Even with your vineyards and orchards, nothing has borne fruit. Yet I will bless you from now on.
Zec 3:7 If you will follow My ways, and perform My service, then you will also govern My house and My courts. Also, I will grant you free access among these who are standing.
Zec 8:12 There will be peace for the seed. The vine will yield and the land produce, and the heavens will water the lands; and I will cause the remnant to inherit all this.
Zec 10:1 Ask the LORD for spring rains - He who makes the storm clouds; and He will give them, bringing vegetation to the field of each man.
Mal 3:10-12 Bring in the whole tithe, so that there will be food in My house. Test Me in this, and see if I don't open the windows of heaven to pour out blessings on you to overflowing. Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, that your fruits not be destroyed by him, and all the nations will call you blessed because of the delightfulness of your lands.

 

New Thoughts

In the verses of this section, we are seeing both the joyful side and the hard side of God's providence. By His own testimony, both the blessings and the trials have been by His hands. It was He who withheld the rains, making His people perpetually thirsty. It was He who sent the rains in their seasons, causing their lands to burst forth in fruitfulness. It was He who sent the locusts to destroy those fruits, and it is He who destroys the locusts from the land.

To us, this often makes God look capricious in His nature, one minute pouring out terrors, the next pouring out blessings. Yet, if we look behind His actions, we will see the act of a loving Father, for that is what He is. As a loving Father, He cannot allow His children to run around however they please. He must move to correct them when they misbehave. As a loving Father, He begins as gently as He can, hoping that His children will obey Him at His first word. But, willful children that we are, that rarely works for Him, so He must resort to stronger measures, until something gets our attention sufficiently to bring the needed change.

We are willful children. It takes a lot to get our attention like that. This is what Amos is recording in his writing. Like any parent that has had to resort to harsh measures to reign in their child, God is hurt by what it has taken. Before it gets any worse, He like us, points His children to what their actions have already led to, to what has already been done to bring correction.

He reduced their water supply, not to total absence, but to painful restriction. They ignored it. He reduced their food supply, again not a total destruction, but a painful restriction. They ignored it. He reduced their health. They ignored it. He reduced their population by wars and oppressions. Still they ignored it. They threatened to become as Sodom and Gomorrah, for having ignored all His attempts to date, harsher measures must be brought to bear. You can hear Him crying out in this: "What's it going to take? How stubborn are you going to be? What must I do to get you to obey Me?"

Why has He had to go to these extremes? How is it that His providence must take this ugly path? It is simply because, as history shows over and over again, we forget Him in times of blessing. We get wrapped up in the blessings we have received, and completely ignore their source. Hosea points to this issue. God had been raining all manner of blessings upon His people, but rather than thanking Him, they were taking His gifts to them and offering them to the idols. Can you imagine!

How hurt are we when the gifts we give go unacknowledged, or worse, when we find that the receiver thought so little of the gift that he gave it away. And not only that, he gave it to our worst enemy, knowing we would find out. How hurt are we then? How willing to forgive? How, then, must God in whose image we were created feel when we use the things He has blessed us with to serve in His enemy's camp? How hurt must He be when we place our members in that camp, to serve the forces of sin and evil?

"My people don't even recognize that I have been the one blessing them," says the Lord (Hos 2:8). "I taught them. I carried them. I healed them. Yet, they never realized it was Me." (Hos 11:3). How much does He do for us daily that we fail to recognize? How much does He bless us daily, and we never think to say thank You? Have we become a people that no longer recognize? Oh, I pray it isn't so!

Lord, I know all too well how easy it is to forget Your presence, to neglect Your presents. How easy it is to leave behind thankfulness for all You have done on our behalf. I know, I've forgotten all too often. I beg Your forgiveness, I pray that You awaken this heart to see all that You are doing, and rejoice and give thanks for it all. I ask that You would work upon my spirit to know Your correction quickly when it comes, to not reject Your attempts to change my course, but welcome them with the same rejoicing and thankfulness by which I should welcome all Your blessings. For, indeed, Your corrections are a blessing.

I praise You and thank You that You do not abandon Your children to their course. Where would I be, Lord, if You had not chosen to stop me from my own foolishness? Where would I be, Lord, if You had not been willing to do what was necessary to get my attention?

Lord, You know the place where I am at in this present moment. You have arranged the timing of this study to strengthen my spirit in the midst of the trial. Yet, I still get so overwhelmed so easily. It seems as though everything is falling apart at once. I know this is not the truth, but it feels that way. Keep me faithful through it all, my God. If it is a test I need, then I welcome it, and I welcome the knowledge that You will provide with the test the needed answer.

It occurs to me, Father, that this is in many ways the answer to so many of the prayers I have offered You in past times. How often have I told You I was willing to what You must do for me to learn patience, to learn humility? I sense that in some ways, this is part of the answer to those prayers. It hurts, Lord. I knew it was going to. Thank You for reminding me this morning, so that I can thank You, Lord, for the answer - both the answer to my prayers of old, and the answer to this challenging present.

Father God, have I been doing the right things as this job comes to an end? Have I been fair in dealing with all those who are in the same situation as myself? I have been trying, Lord, to do as You would have me do. Am I doing so? I pray that it be so, yet if it is not, I will trust You to correct my ways. I just want to be a testimony for You in the present circumstance, that lives may be changed for the better.

All to often, we Your people don't recognize what You are doing in and through us. Open my eyes to Your work, Lord. Open my eyes to understand Your purposes in this present providence. Help me to take to heart the words from Ezekiel, that in all this You are not working with my interests foremost in Your thoughts, but You are working so that by what occurs in this situation, not only myself, but many others will know that it is Your doing, and will praise You for all You have done.

I have seen, Lord, opportunities arising that have the appearance of Your touch upon them. You know the ones. Father God, if one of these is the direction You have in mind for me to travel in, open those doors wide. I pray that You open them wide enough that many of my coworkers will be able to go through as well; that Your influence may continue to be upon them, and in such a way as to bring glory to Your name. If I have been chasing down the wrong paths, Lord, I ask that You close the doors tightly, and show me where I took the wrong turn, that I may get back onto the road You choose.

You are not doing this for me, but for You. Help me to understand that. Help me to get my eyes off of me, off of my circumstance, and onto Your plans, Your wisdom, Your glory. Let it all be about You, Lord, and never let me lose sight of that.