1-9-26 Weekly Devotional – Chance or Divine Providence
I was asked these two questions a short time ago – Have you ever wondered why the life of an individual takes a certain path? Why is it that you wound up doing what you are doing, and I wound up doing what I am doing? I thought to myself, these will not be easy questions to answer, at least to the satisfaction of my questioner. I suggested to him that many factors must be considered and there are always variables. Such as parental guidance, education, societal conditions, friends, etc., all are contributing factors that establish the conditions from which people make choices concerning their lives; whom they marry, the career they choose, hobbies they involve themselves in, and so on. Many hold that these things occur by chance but is that true? That itself is a good question. A question that I am not qualified to answer. However, there is another reality, at least in the lives of some, the providence of God.
Consider: Abram who lived as an idolator with his father’s family until God called him to become the forebear of the nation of Israel changing his name to Abraham (the father of many nations). Consider: Joseph whom his brothers sold him into slavery, but he became second only to Egypt’s Pharaoh. Consider: Moses, born into slavery but rose up to be the deliverer of Israel. Consider: Israel, in bondage to Egypt but rescued out of that bondage by God. They were His chosen nation, receivers and dispensers of the Law and the service of God. Consider: Mary, a young maiden who would become the vessel through from whom the humanity of the God the Son would come. Consider: Saul, whom was a persecutor of the church became Paul, God’s apostle to the Gentiles. Consider: the church, began as a small band of 12 men chosen by the Lord, increased to 120, then to millions, and still increasing. All the above examples did not come about by chance but by the Devine providence of God.
The doctrine of divine providence asserts that God is in complete control of all things. He is sovereign over the universe as a whole (Psalm 103:19), the physical world (Matthew 5:45), the affairs of nations (Psalm 66:7), human destiny (Galatians 1:15), human successes and failures (Luke 1:52), and the protection of His people (Psalm 4:8). This doctrine stands in direct opposition to the idea that the universe is governed by chance or fate.
Again considering the questioner, he may ask , what is divine providence? To put it shortly, divine providence is God accomplishing His will. To ensure that His purposes are fulfilled, God governs the affairs of men and works through the natural order of things. The laws of nature are nothing more than God’s work in the universe. The laws of nature have no inherent power; rather, they are the principles that God set in place to govern how things normally work. They are only “laws” because God decreed them.
Divine providence suggests reason and purpose. And again, the questioner might ask, what is the purpose of God in my life, in your life? To which we must answer: The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
Because there is sin in the world, man, in his natural state, has made himself god, his own determiner, it must be stated: God hates sin and will judge sinners, yet He allows it. We also know that God is not the author of sin, He does not tempt anyone to sin (James 1:13), and He does not condone sin. But, at the same time, God obviously allows a certain measure of sin. And the reason for that is>
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son in to the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be save. He that believeth on Him is not condemned but he that does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
So, I think my answer to the questioner would be, we all should be striving to glorify the Son, everything else will fall in place. Blessings!
Steve