The doctrine of providence is central to the Christian faith.  A theological definition is God’s outworking of His purpose in creation, specifically as it relates to His dealings with mankind through Jesus.  To understand providence is to understand that the course of history, eternity past and eternity future have been ordered exactly as God has willed, and central to all of it is the incarnation of Christ, that is the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The reason this is important is that it reveals to followers of Christ that our lives are not accidents ruled by chance, but ordained by God.  I have found that a good understanding of this doctrine can have a significant impact in spiritual growth, emotional and spiritual healing, and growing in faith for further dependence on God.  As a child, I was very inquisitive, always asking questions, examining every aspect of life in an effort to understand.  Whether I was a five year old asking my mom “who made God!” or pressing my tenth grade biology teacher on the source of information necessary to produce the first single cell organism.  My desire to understand is a gift from God and has served me well in many areas of life, but when it comes to making sense when life doesn’t go as planned, it can be a hindrance in growing your faith.  This is where I found myself when the Lord reminded me that in spite of everything, God has a bigger purpose than my plans.  I think our instincts are often to ask why, “why did you make me like this?” (Romans 9:20) or “why was this man born blind?” (John 9:2), but as sin permeates every fiber of our being, our instincts are not to be trusted like unreasoning animals (2Peter 2:12; Jude 1:10), but rather we are to walk by the Spirit (Romans 8:4-8).  Romans 8:14-15 says that when we are led by the Spirit, we overcome fear because we are children of God.  Sounds easy enough right, be led by the Spirit, quit being afraid, God is in control, no problem.  Well, it is not easy for you and me in our own efforts, but it is how God designed and administers the process when we trade fear for faith.

One of the most commonly sited verses on God’s providence is Romans 8:28 which states “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”  So every event in our lives is orchestrated by God to bring about a benefit to us for lasting good according to His purpose and for His glory.  Further understanding comes in verse 29 which tell us that “those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son.”  The larger meaning is that we are ever growing in holiness to be like Jesus, conformed by taking up our cross (Mark 8:34-36), whatever that cross may be.  I am going to come back to Mark 8 in another post, but the word “foreknew” really took me to a deeper level of faith and getting me past the wall.  The word is not merely an awareness as if to say that God knew about me, but rather it was a predetermination as a direct act of God’s love.  A complete, unmerited choosing by God to designate me to become His child in redemptive history.  “God tells us that He will have mercy on whom I have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion” (Romans 9:15) making clear in no uncertain terms that He has willed my redemption and ordered my life.  So while we make our own plans, it is God who directs our steps (Proverbs 16:9).  In that, it is those redirects, those “about face” events that require a deeper faith to be more trusting and move forward.

The process for going deeper will be a theme that I will elaborate on, but for now an overview.  As I prayed for understanding, it was a much deeper awareness of the reality of God’s affection for me that would alleviate me of my need to ask why.  By design, I am a multi-stage thinker, a term more common in economics.  That simply means that I always think of the ripple effects of a decision.  If I do this, what will the outcome be and what will be the outcome of the outcome and what are those effects ad infinitum ad nauseam.  This gift can also become a hindrance in creating confusion and actually preventing any action at all.  God showed me that my incessant need to ask why had prevented me from fully realizing deeper levels of faith and trust.  Peace came in a greater understanding of who God is, who I am to Him rather than me understanding everything.  The Lord’s loving rebuke that I do not need to sign off on His plan was instrumental in letting go of “why!”

The process of going deeper always involves the death of self, giving up part of yourself, most likely a part of you that you have used to rely on in self sufficiency.  For me, it was a piece of me that I took pride in.  The journey inward showed me that my wounded pride was not to be healed, but put to death.  As we grow in Christ, there is a process by which God reveals greater understanding of who He is and things in us that need to be fixed or purged, all of which results in living a more fruitful life for God.  A pastor once said that when he got out of seminary, he could write you a three page paper on what it means to be meek, but after forty years of ministry, God had shown him enough to preach on meekness for six months.  As I have been thinking about that message lately, I am reminded that the lessons I am learning are being built on previous periods of pruning for the purpose of being a more fruitful branch with deeper roots in the Vine. (John 15).