The Providence Of God Explained To Give Us A Sure Hope

---

Bless the LORD,O my soul,and forget notall His benefits:...As a father pities his children,so the LORD pitiesthose who fear Him.For He knows our frame;and He remembers that we are dust.Psalm 103:2,13-14                It is our understanding of the term we use for God, that He is Providential; but we have a difficult time understanding how it is that God is Providential because life is full of events that seem to defy the presence of God. We speak of His benefits, we rely on His word that teaches us that God knows us, and that He blesses us; then the horrible thing occurs and our faith is stressed to the breaking point. Even the words of Jesus Christ seem hollow and not understandable and  echo in our minds that it is impossible, an impossible thing to do, that which He says: "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" (Matthew 6:34). Oh! How to explain these words spoken by the Savior? Listen closely, Jesus gave these words to drive away our fears, to keep us from distress and to enable us to rely on the Providence of God. As I write this I do hope that my explanation will lift up your souls, those of you who are distressed, that you may be raised from despondency to rejoicing.
     Ezekiel gives from beginning of His writings a picture that is sometimes hard to understand, at least for those of us who find God sometimes giving us words in visions leaving us to study for the meaning: He gives us the meaning if we will just listen to the Holy Spirit, our guide. Ezekiel gives us the picture of a wheel, that the Providence of God is like a wheel, and the wheel goes round, and round, first one part of the wheel is on the bottom, then it is on the top and the previous top part is on the bottom; and so on. Is this not like life, first we are on top, then we are on the bottom, round and round it goes life. So goes our life, for sometimes we are humbled by poverty and wonder where the next meal may come to us, and feed us and give us comfort, or that our wealth has disappeared and no longer do we drink the best of wines, or eat the best of foods, the comfort of wealth is gone and not necessarily due to any fault of our own. Our experiences are never a stable thing; it is always changing, and like the wheel in Ezekiel's vision, it is always turning round. Today they are praising you, tomorrow they want to crucify you: such is the state of man. 
     Let us take a look at this wheel that is going around and around and notice that there is one part of the wheel that never changes: it is the axle, it is steadfast. This is the Providence of God that never changes, it not moved by the turning of the wheel, the occurrences in our lives. This axle can be compared to the love of God that never changes His everlasting love towards His covenant people. 
     As the wheel turns faster and faster all that we can see is the circumference, the exterior of the circle, you can discern nothing by the circumference. Is this not true of our going through some affliction, that all we can see is the affliction? I wrote on history, that we can look back in history and see how the Providence of God, that God is working in history, and is working in the now, He is working our His everlasting purposes. History will show that there are times that the cause of liberty would be crushed, or that this seems so out of place, this event, that this or that is so out of time, that the very rising of man would be destroyed; but when we do look closely at history then we can see the symmetry that teaches you that God is wise, and that God is just. This we must allow to rise in our lives, this knowledge of God that comforts us in our times of struggle, become as a sturdy oak tree and take a deeper root. If all you do is look at today, the afflictions of today and have no root, root that is grounded deep in history showing the love and justice of God then the winds of even a small storm will uproot you. When we know the past and see the Providence of God at work then our present troubles will be counteracted by the knowledge that give a sure faith that God will be Providential and that we can by His help get through anything that may come our way. Instead of lamenting and mourning, we will rise up and bless God for His mercies toward you. 
     No matter the problem, no matter where we are, God's Providence is universal, it is in every quarter of the earth. An example of God's eye that is one each and every one anywhere and any place may be found in this simple illustration. At times on the wall there is a painting, let say, of a man, and wherever we go in the room where the picture is hanging, the eyes of the man in the picture seem to be looking directly at you. Have you had this happen? Such is the Providence of God, that wherever you are, God's eyes are upon you. This is true of everyone who is in the room where the picture is hanging, each one sees the same thing the man in the picture is looking at them. So is God's Providence, He is not just looking at you but He is looking at everyone. 
     Here is an important thing: the Providence of God is uniform, even if we can't understand His Providence, there is some contradiction: but God does not contradict Himself. God is One, His Providence is One: this may be a hard truth to grasp, but grasp it we must. I gave in the last blog the example of Joseph and all the troubles he endured, and that all the troubles seem to contradict the Providence of God, but in the end we could see that God was working all the time. Yet, you may admit that the Providence of God is so adverse to you, there is no beauty in your life. I just laid some carpet for my daughter and granddaughter and I will use this illustration: If you are looking in the wrong place for beauty you may be looking at the wrong thing. For instance, if you are looking at the back of the carpet you will only see disorder, and lines of jute thread going this way and that way, but turn over the carpet and you will see the beauty of color, and design, that was fully intended by the manufacturer. So it is with us when tribulations come, that Providence is very bad, because we are looking at the wrong side. Yes, it is human to look at the wrong side, and maybe all that you will ever see is the wrong side and while here on earth this is all that we can see, but when we get to heaven then we will see with all clarity the beauty that was being developed by God's Providence. Your faith in times of trouble may be firm and steady, but the things of live do not change, the trouble is still with you, but your assured faith never wavers. What you cannot see, for all you see is the back of the carpet is the development of a beauty on the other side, that there is someone who by your witness to the truth is turned from sin to salvation, that the gift of faith has taken root and is fed nourishment due to your life, your handling of affliction, your steadfast faith in God. You may not find the answers here on earth, but you will in the presence of God, when all knowledge will be yours, and you will see that workings of God, His Providence, His never wavering from His purpose, to bring to Him a people for His name. You will have had a hand in His Providential care. 
     God's Providence is always correct, no matter how the wheel turns, which way it goes, the axle remains constant: such is the Providence of God. Man may may plans, but in the end finds that he cannot complete his plans; this is not so with God for He never lays a foundation and then have to abandon his plan, for what He begins He finishes, His purposes never change, they are never thwarted by the struggles of our life, He works out His plan in the circumstances of our lives. First, and most important, How could God change, for if God wills a thing to occur, it will, and if He wills a thing not to occur, it won't occur. If God is changeable, then He is not perfect, therefore He is not in control of all things, somethings could change from good to bad, and from bad to worse; we would have no comfort, no hope, that God is in control, and that we would just have to accept things as they are and that we be left in our despair. God does not love you today and hate you tomorrow, and He will not allow you to suffer more than you can handle, but we must not rely on ourselves so that we may not suffer more than we can handle, we rely upon God, through His word, and by looking at history and seeing the Providence of God, that His working in history by an unchangeable God, will be with us and work through our struggles as well. This is amazing! God is working all the time; working in our lives, working through all that Satan would destroy, that Satan desires to destroy, not non-Christians for he has them in his hands, rather it those who profess faith in God, God's children and if he could stymy the faith of a Christian, there witness to the Gospel then Satan has accomplished his purpose, but when we rely on God, keep our faith intact in Him, then Satan is defeated and our lives are the witness to the great and wonderful gospel, that Jesus Christ died for the children of God and that the Holy Spirit was sent as a comforter to God's children and until we arrive in heaven we have God on our side, that His Providence will overcome all our afflictions. '
      This is the wisdom of God, that His Providence is full of wisdom. As Christians we do not believe in fate. We do not say: "Whatever is, must be." There is a difference between that thought or saying and the Providence of God for Providence says: "Whatever God ordains must be;" but the wisdom of God never ordains a thing without a purpose. If anything goes wrong, and this is due to sin, and the working of Satan and his demons, then God puts it right. God is not blind, He sees all, and He is in charge of all, whether we can fuller understand the struggles we may be in, we have one thing that we have that no one who is not a child of God has: it is our sure faith in God. Paul writes this and this should give you hope and a blessing: "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).
     Why take the time to discuss the Providence of God? It is this: if you cannot believe in the Providence of God then anything that may be said will have no meaning for you. The question as to why God has allowed afflictions in this life, to occur here on earth will never be answered and you will be left in you depression.  But we are not destitute, we have God on our side, and Paul states: "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, not height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:37-39).

Is Ephraim My dear son?
     Is he a pleasant child?
For though I spoke against him,
    I earnestly remember him still;
therefore My heart yearns for him;
    I will surely have mercy on him,
says the LORD.
                               Jeremiah 31:20 


Place All Your Trust In God


Richard L. Crumb
     



 
 

God Is Omniscient---We Are Not

Surely I am more stupid

than any man,

and do not have

the understanding

of a man.

I neither learned wisdom

nor have knowledge 

of the Holy One.

Proverbs 30:2-3

     Solomon in his song, a book that is seldom quoted from by pastors or teachers, but a book that is rich in meaning and in building our faith, says this by the daughters of Jerusalem: "Where has your beloved gone, O fairest among women? Where has your beloved turned aside, that we may seek him with you" (Song of Solomon 6:1)? When tragedy strikes, when troubled times come upon a person, when we look for answer, we find that we cannot find the One we love: He seem to have gone, even when we turn to those who may have an answer. We may cry out in our distress and as the Shulamite cried: "Make haste, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices" (Song of Solomon 8:14). We look for Him, we cry out for Him to come, and often we cannot see where He is, or why He seems to have left us in our moment of anguish, or time of grieving. Have you been in that state, has this happened to you? If so, join the great crowd of people called human. We all suffer from time to time and wonder where is God, where is the help we need, and furthermore, why did this happen? Then the worst thing happens to us, we question our question, how could we be so insensitive to our faith, yet, we are struggling with the situation we find ourselves in, and we need answers, but we may then become depressed, not only due to the struggle of the time, but because we are in some way doubting that God can help, that He has left us to our affliction. Has He? No! But how do we answer the question so often asked by those not only in the Church, but by those who are non-Christian, in regards to why God allows pain and suffering? How do we answer this question? We don't! We can't! We are stupid! But....God does give us a brain, He does not leave us destitute (He does give us His word, the Bible), so that we cannot answer this question, or any question, and in finding the answer we can build our faith in Him, that He is Providential, and that He is Omniscient, and that He is there to comfort us in all our troubles: But, He will not necessarily take those troubles from us, even though we wish it were so. Why? Great question, and I will attempt to give some answers that will help. 

     Before I begin I must ask some personal questions: The first one is: Who are you loyal too? You or God? Many of us are loyal to the notion of God, but are you loyal to Him? Another question is: Are you willing to take a step in faith? Remember that our faith is not in faith, it is in Him, the Son of God. That is: are you willing to abandon your notions, and be recklessly abandoned to Him? We may say that this or that should not have happened, but it did so what do you say to that? By even saying the question we are placing our selves as being providential, that we would have done things better, better than God. That God could have done so and so, and by not doing it then we begin to question Him. Some have done so be becoming Deist, that is, God created then left all to chance, He just sits back and waits for things to happen, so nonchalantly He is not concerned about how we feel or how it all turns out, He did His part we must do ours. Is this so? No! God is not just sitting back waiting for things to happen, God is Omniscient and all things occur due to His ordination, by His decree, for if He did not decree a thing to happen then it would not have happen, and if by His ordination, and by His Providential care, He allow and controls all things, thing it is by God decree that what occurs will be made to be good in His overall purpose. God works through the circumstances of life, it is then we come to realize that we need God, but that knowledge does not take away the pain we feel. Is God uncaring? No! But God will not remove from us our humanity. We are the cause of second causes. This will be shown to be true, and even though those causes create a bad situation, God can and will use that situation for good. Will God take a bad situation and use it for Good? Yes! Our best example is that of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ: "and thy will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. and the third day He will rise again" (Matthew 10:34). If Jesus Christ did not die, die as a perfect sinless man, then there would be no salvation for any man or woman, or child, we would be left to whatever occurs in this life: we would live and die: period! Our view of God, or notion of God will determine how we handle adversity. If all we have is a notion of God, things will not work out for our benefit and leave us in a quandary and our dilemma may overtake our senses; we question the goodness of God. If our faith is in Him, not in a notion of Him, then we can find solace and great strength in times of trouble, but we still needs answers for our in our human strength we have none, and we are not able to help or give answers to those in need of an answer. We must be ready to give answers for our faith to anyone who would ask: "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in your, with meekness and fear" (1Peter 3:15). So then, how can we be ready? By taking time to examine what we believe in regards to the pain and suffering that occurs in the world. If we do not have any satisfactory answers for ourselves how then can we be ready to give an answer to those who ask? We can't! But we must! We are here on this earth as ambassadors of Jesus Christ: "Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though god were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God" (2Corinthians 5:20). Paul was literally in chains as a prisoner in Rome, but we may be chains of despair, struggling with life and with all the bad that seems to occur both in the Church and outside the Church, but we must act as Paul did: "and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak" (Ephesians 6:20). 

     By God not taking away the pain and suffering from His Son, who is God Himself (lest we forget this), and did not bring salvation in any other way, yet, by His Providence, He allowed this seemingly unsightly, and horrible thing to occur to the One He sent to earth, then why should we not think that He will take the bad in our life and turn it for good? I am sure, at least I will surmise, that Joseph did not fully understand why his brothers wanted to kill him, then by not doing so threw him into a pit, only then to sell him to some gypsy travelers. Then being accused of a crime he did not commit and to be thrown into prison some thirteen years and having befriended those who who could help but did not, He may, even with his great faith, wondered why? Then God did the unthinkable, He had Joseph released from prison and to become the second in power in Egypt. But this was not the purpose that God intended, for in His Providential care for His people who were to undergo a great famine and needed food, came to Egypt to live and be saved from death due to that famine, said this to his brothers: "But as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, ink order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive" (Genesis 50:20). 

     This is where we shall begin in order to give us answers and the help we need, not only for ourselves, but for those who need answers. I will continue in the next blog with that help.

Hear my prayer, O LORD,

    and let my cry come to You.

Do not hide Your face from me

    in the day of my trouble;

incline your ear to me;

    in he day that I call,

answer me speedily.

                        Psalm 102:1-2

God will not despise your prayer

Richard L. Crumb 

Questions, Questions, Questions---MaybeYou Have Some--I Have

As for man, his days

are like grass;

as a flower of the field,

so he flourishes.

For the wind passes 

over it and it is gone,

and its place remembers

it no more. But the mercy

of the LORD is from

everlasting to everlasting

on those who fear Him,

and His righteousness

to children's children.

to such as keep His covenant,

and to those who

remember His commandments

to do them.

Psalm 103:15-18

     I have covered the Sovereignty of God, the Incarnation of Christ, some attributes of God, and the dispensation of God according to His economy, the authority of God and the authority He has gave to His children. The necessity of changing from the inside out so that a person is devoted to God and that the faith given to you operates in this life so that you can face anything that comes your way. Good!! But!! You may still have questions that are not only asked by pagans, but by Christians; i.e., why did my mother have to die, or my father, my  cousin, my nephew, my child, and why did my marriage end the way it did, and why, why, why?????

     Don't be ashamed to ask these questions, you are human aren't you? God has not taken away your humanity when He made you a new creature. Quit trying to be so holy! Live life, obey God! But, you say, 'how do I answer the question as to why God has allowed pain, and suffering? Why did my friend die in a car crash? Why, Why, Why???? Have you questioned God over this? It is ok! But, you could use some answers, and this will be the theme and subject of the next blog. 

     This blog is short, as I am going out of town and while I am gone I will be studying so that I may give some good answers, answers from the Bible. Here is the first thing a person needs to do before he can expect to have any answer: Pray, Pray, Pray! Trust God to give you an answer, you may not like it: oh well! Ha! We did cover that God is Sovereign, and Providential, and He did send His Son, to die for our sins, did He not? Ok! Then, it is by faith we live, but not some etheral, out in space kind of faith, rather it faith assured, we have a hope that is assured, so all we need to do is apply that faith and God will answer. 

     Take time to prepare for worship on Sunday, make this day a sabbath, keep the commandment of God, and if you must work due to necessity, it is ok, God will not condemn you for that, only if you can keep the sabbath and do not. Enjoy, your friends, family, and live life to the fullest. We have much to cover and we will, and hopefully you may use the answers to help others who might have questions that need answers, that is why we are here, to preach, teach and make disciples, what a work God has given us, and what help by means of the Holy Spirit He has given us. 

Bless the LORD, you 

    His angels (messengers, my note)

who excel in strength,

     who do His word.

Heeding the voice

    of His word. 

                   Psalm 103:20

May God Bless You

Richard L. Crumb