First a definition …
- Providence from Dictionary.com (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/providence)1. the foreseeing care and guidance of god or nature over the creatures of the earth. 2. God, especially when conceived as omnisciently directing the universe and the affairs of humankind with wise benevolence. 3. a manifestation of divine care or direction.
I don’t pray for a parking spot when I go to the mall, or pray that God will lead me to the spot where I lost my car keys (well, not usually anyways). Okay, maybe sometimes when I am losing it because I can’t find my glasses and … You know what that is like. Scary.
My Bible reading isn’t directed by letting the Book fall open to a certain page and then closing my eyes and “finding” the verse God would have me to read.
But providence, yes, I do believe in a Sovereign God who oversees care of his creation.
Here’s my story.
A storm moved into our area on Wednesday evening with very damaging winds. More trees and power lines than I had ever seen on the ground. Thankfully no deaths. Our problem was that we would now have no electricity for two days.
Considering what so many people had gone through with tornadoes and flooding over the last several weeks, I was not going to complain. This was not a tragedy but an inconvenience. So we were soldiering on, my wife and I, she’s a beauty, and waiting for the crews to remove trees and restore power.
At work Friday I thought that if the electricity was not going to be restored until late Saturday that we might just get out of town for the day. Leave Friday after work and come home Saturday evening.
We were packed and ready to go. I had the car running and was fiddling with my phone to try to find a discount motel rate for the area we planned to travel to. Was starting to frustrate me because I thought I would be able to do this pretty quickly.
But one thing led to another and we sat in the driveway much longer than intended.
Then providence happened.
God knew that we would much prefer staying home. A little get-a-way sounded good but financially this was not a good time for that. And we were tired from dealing with our inconvenience. But we really weren’t complaining. And we weren’t fervently praying that God would restore things ASAP. We felt very thankful and cared for and didn’t want to ruin that with amplifying our inconvenience.
So as I sat in the car with my phone, the Duke Energy truck pulls up and stops in front of our house. The guy gets out and as he walked toward the back of our house to inspect lines says, “I think we’ll have your power on later tonight. No promises but it should be later tonight or first thing in the morning.”
Providence …
Not earth-shaking, but pretty good news. We celebrated with turkey burgers and a movie. And you should have heard us when I called home and got the answering machine. (Our way of remotely finding out if the electric was back on.)
We simultaneously let out a whoop of joy. Sounded like our team had just hit the winning basket as time expired.
God loves us. You, me, everyone. So much so that he sent his only Son on a rescue, a redemption mission that if we only believe he gives us eternal life. That’s the big stuff he is involved in – salvation, eternal life, etc.
But sometimes, he takes time from his busy schedule to “send the guy by” with the news that your electric will be back on soon
That is the God I serve.
May you be praised Sovereign Lord. May I always love you. May I always honor you as God and give thanks.
Your servant, David.
