The Pastor’s Pen (The Very Rev. Dr. Curtis Crenshaw, Th.D.) Trusting Providence
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28 NKJ).
It was 7:00 am, January 9th, 1990, and there were loud bangs on the front door of our rental house. Ruth and I knew what it was: I was being arrested by the federal government. So were 13 others in our congregation. I was innocent, so were the others, and the jury agreed on July 9th, 1991, exactly 18 months to the day (three periods of six months, or 6-6-6!). Our trial began in February 1991, and lasted 4 ½ months, four to five days a week, eight hours a day, the largest and longest trial in the history of that court’s jurisdiction.
What in the world is providence, and how does the above verse speak to it? Providence is the mysterious working of God in our lives so that whatever comes to pass is the result of His gracious plan, designed for our good and His glory. It is mysterious because no one can figure it out. For example, are you doing today what you had planned to do ten years ago? Are you working in the area of your college major? Are you living in the city that you planned to live in twenty years ago? Are you married to the person you were twenty years ago? Ten years ago? Are all your loved ones alive?
Providence includes whatever comes to pass, which means He—not we—is in control of our lives. But we may object, “Surely that does not include sin, especially our own sin?” True, God is not the author of sin, and our verse above does not say that all things are good, but that God, in the long run, causes all things to “work together for good.”
It is His plan, not ours, for Paul states “according to His purpose.” But we often fight to be in control of our lives, and we get sorely frustrated when things do go our way, and our blood pressure goes up. In our better moments, we would not want to be in control, but much of the time, we want things our way, not His. If an election does not go our way, we are angry with God, who may give us what we deserve. If we lose our job, we cannot imagine how that would benefit us, but God is concerned about developing our character, not our bank accounts. Indeed, in this time of recession, we may have seen our accounts shrink considerably, and we may be angry about it, but we must learn to trust God’s providence.
Furthermore, notice Paul says that all things “work together” for good. God does not deal with us in an unconnected series of events, but they form a perfect scheme over the period of our lifetime. Our lives are a rug, hooked one day at a time, one thread at a time, until we are a beautiful picture of Christ, made in His moral image. One day I suspect that all that happened to us will make sense, or at least a lot more sense. You should sit down sometime, and just see what has transpired in your life to make you a Christian or a better Christian. This promise that God will work out all things for good is not for everyone but only for those who know God through Christ. For those who never come to know Him, all bets are off, as we often say.
I look back on my life. My dad left my mother and me. It seemed bad, but it was good, for God removed a bad influence and sent my uncle into my life as a godly influence. Then my mother married a Baptist preacher. That was good wasn’t it? Well, he tried to kill my mother who was pregnant with my half-brother. That was bad, wasn’t it? Yes, but God brought us all closer to Him through it.
Then I got into an exclusive engineering college, which was good. But I took a year off to go to Bible College. Well that was good. But then the Army drafted me because I had changed majors, and I was sent to Vietnam, and was that bad? At the time it seemed the worst thing possible. Why would God do that to me? I was subject to death everyday. But God used the Army for two years and Vietnam for a year of that to discipline me, which was good. I got shrapnel in my forearm, and was that bad? No, it took away my ability to pursue a bowling career, which was good.
You see, the point is that in the short run we often do not know if something is good or bad, but God knows, and He is working out His plan for each of His children. We must learn to trust His providence. Amen. ?
