Friday, October 1, 2010

Providence - October, 2010

Biblical Moorings

The word “providence” comes from the Latin and means that God “sees before” or “looks out for us.” Providence is the doctrine that “the eternal, wise, holy, and loving purpose of God embraces all events” [Bernard Clairvaux]. It is the assurance that God cares for us and for his whole creation. We should expect this, of course, in view of what we already know about God. He is almighty, which means that he has the power not only to create but to govern his universe. He is also our Father, and as a loving Father he may be depended upon to take care of his children.

The Church sometimes distinguishes among three kinds of providence. There is, in the first place, a general providence by which we mean God's care for the universe as a whole. It includes his control over the earth and everything in it, over all plant and animal life, and over all human beings everywhere. The Old Testament says, “Thou art the Lord, thou alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and thou preservest all of them.” Jesus speaks very beautifully of this: “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them” (Matthew 6:26).

We speak of special providence when we are thinking of God's care for all men. Jesus referred often to this. He said to his disciples, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's will. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-31). The words are true not simply of the disciples but of all people. They show how wonderfully
he cares for us. Jesus makes it clear that special providence reaches all men--good and bad
alike--when he says, “for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).

The Church speaks of most special providence when it is thinking of God's care for the one who trusts him and lives for him. The Christian is one who has placed himself [or herself] in such a position as to be able to receive the love and guidance of God. This doctrine gives...strength and comfort when he [or she] becomes weary and discouraged. Paul put it in words that are hard to forget, “We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him” (Romans 8:28). This does not mean that no misfortunes come to a Christian; it means that God makes it possible to find good even in them.

It isn't always easy to believe this. There are many things that happen which seem to contradict this faith. Why should little children, who have done no wrong, have to suffer? Why should tornadoes and floods threaten the homes of good people? Why should there be war with its death and destruction? How can a good God permit such things?

Christians never deny that there is such evil in the world. They may admit very frankly that they can't explain why it comes to some people rather than to others. But the Christian believes that God cares very deeply about what happens and that in his wisdom he can bring good out of the worst kind of tragedy. Here is the way Paul described his faith: “For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38,39).

Clifford W. Bjorklund (1921-1986), Harry J. Ekstam (1918- ), Karl A. Olsson (1913-1996), and Donald C. Frisk (1911- ), According to Thy Word (1954, 1955), pp. 355,356,357.

God Can Be Trusted
HE LEADS THE WAY

When lost in the woods,
Or even at sea,
Without any goods,
And lonely as can be–

Remember: He leads the way.
For His teachings are right
As day after day
We learn of His light.

When in a place that’s scary,
Know that God is with you.
And when things could be a little more merry,
God is with you all the way through.

Think always, wherever you are,
Whether you go or stay,
If it’s near or far:
God leads the way.

Bruce Lantz (1957-1969), Age 10, Pomeroy, Iowa
From, Poems and Prayers from the Ark, ed. Priscilla Johnson (1984), p. 14.

...Go home and sleep quietly, and leave it to God. We pray every day, “Our Father, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” And then we stay awake all night for fear that he cannot do it, or will not do it, or that he might need more information. I have done that, and it is just plumb silly. It does not fit with what we already believe. They asked Franklin Roosevelt whether in the burden of the war he had had many sleepless nights. He said only one: the night Winston Churchill called him and said, “I think Britain will go down tonight.” You cannot blame a man for staying awake on a night like that. “Otherwise,” he said, “I just told myself, 'Well, Franklin, you've made some and you've lost some today. But whether you did a good job or a bad job, it's over, and there isn't a blessed thing you can gain by sitting around grumbling about it, so go to sleep.’” Now, there is no particular faith in that. That is just good old farmers' common sense. But with faith added to it, the conviction that, despite everything--and this is God's last humor--he uses us to do his purposes in the world.

Is that good news? I guess it is! Do we really mean it? Or is there an unregenerate comer of our spirits that says, “Yes, but, you know, God is really very old fashioned. He hasn't seen the newest mainframe IBM 360s, and he doesn't yet know what they can do. Now, if I could get Trinitarian theology on that mainframe and check it out, we could go from 18.5 percent compounded growth rate to 22.5 percent inside three and a half years, or at least 3.56.” Is that not dumb? But that is the way we think. Because there is something reserved in the corner of us that says, “He cannot be trusted, finally, to work out his own purposes. He cannot be trusted to defend himself. We must constantly be defending him against his enemies. We must constantly be sustaining him, we must constantly be careful of his reputation, lest he lose the battle. The prince of darkness is very strong.”

...Managing means keeping order in a chaotic world while recognizing that there is no more control over what is managed than there was for our predecessors who were uprooted, who planted, and who fenced. Like them, the manager cannot ultimately answer for the final outcome because its creation and control is beyond us....

...Good management comes from uncomplicated and faithful stewards, and will be rewarded by the king when he returns with the words, “Good and faithful servant!” I do not know what he is going to say to the computer. I suspect that what he will do is stand back, put his hands on his hips, and have a belly laugh. When I seek a way of expressing the pilgrim life, I take it to be a life, which sooner or later, has the delicate sense that it is not ultimately at home here, though it is here in all of its rich fullness in Christ.

Zenos E. Hawkinson (1925-1997), “Managing” (1978)
From Anatomy of the Pilgrim Experience: Reflections on Being a Covenanter, Edited by Philip J. Anderson and David E. Hawkinson (2000), pp. 58,59,60.

It is in...difficult moments that we can easily see the mystic and true believer in [August Hermann] Francke (1663-1727) emerge most clearly. In the midst of his concerns about contributions (and contributors), erection of new buildings, promotion of new programs, education of rich and poor alike, administration, pastoral ministry, and lecturing at the university, Francke retained his simple trust in the providence of God:

“Around St. Michael's Day, 1699, I was in the utmost need and as I went out into the beautiful weather and contemplated the clear heavens my heart was greatly strengthened in faith (which I ascribe not to my powers, but purely to the grace of God) so that I thought to myself, ‘How glorious it is when one has nothing and can rely on nothing, but knows the living God who has created heaven and earth and puts his trust in him alone and thereby one can have peace even in want.’”

Were this the end of Francke's moment of divine strength we could appreciate the beauty of his thoughts, the simplicity and depth of his faith, and the goodness of God who gave him refreshment in a moment of need. The conclusion of the episode, however, leaves us in awe. As Francke returned home that day, renewed and happy even though he came to a situation of need, some laborers who had been working on the orphanage came to him. It was payday and they expected him to produce their wages. The paymaster approached. “‘Is anything coming?’ he asked. I answered, ‘No, but I have faith in God,’ Hardly had I spoken the word when a student reported to me who had brought thirty talers from someone who he would not name.

“I went back into the room and asked the other how much he required this time for the payment of the builders. He said, ‘Thirty talers.’ I said, ‘Here they are,’and asked if he needed more? He said, ‘No,’ which then strengthened us both much in faith in that we recognized so evidently the wonderful hand of God which was there in a moment when it was needed and as much as was required.”

Gary R. Sattler (19 - ), God’s Glory, Neighbor’s Good (1982), pp. 67,68.

DIVINE LOVE

I’ve got something to give.
You don’t have to take it,
But I wish you would.

I’ve got something to show you.
You don’t have to see,
But I wish you could.

I’ve got something to share with you.
Walk with me a while,
Talk with me a while.

I’m not there, you say?
You can’t hear me?
Listen with your heart;
I will surround you with the sounds of love.

And when you are alone,
Or frightened,
Or need strength to go on,

Call for me by name.
I won’t hesitate,
I’ll be at your side.

You don’t have to call for me,
Maybe you won’t.
But I wish you would.

Rebecca Briggs (1953- ), Age 15, Jamestown, New York
From Poems and Prayers from the Ark, Priscilla Johnson, ed. (1984), p. 146.

‘Our Refuge and Strength’

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea.
Psalm 46:1,2

THESE DAYS ARE CHANGING

These days are changing
With each leaf shimmering down in sunshine
And frosty air through my bedroom window
These days are changing.

These days are changing
Children growing up, parents growing old
Death is stilling the laughter of friends
These days are changing.

Yet You, God of everything, do not change
Forever hiding us in Your love
Still helping us to face our troubles
You become a man and change our days.

These days are changing
Forever creeps closer like snow
Many glad reunions, the laughter of heavenly friends
These days are changing.

So come, changing days
Blow winter-time of life with all your challenge and pain
Meet our Refuge and Strength
Who conquers for us your trouble.

These days are changing
Failing leaves promise us that life shall come again
And for now, until then,
Refuge and Strength, very present help.

Peter J. Hawkinson (1964- ), “The Bethany Broadcaster,” (Church Newsletter, October, 2000).

Children of the heavenly Father safely in his bosom gather;
nestling bird nor star in heaven such a refuge e’er was given.

God his own doth tend and nourish, in his holy courts they flourish;
from all evil things he spares them, in his mighty arms he bears them.

Neither life nor death shall ever from the Lord his children sever;
unto them his grace he showeth, and their sorrows all he knoweth.

Praise the Lord in joyful numbers, your Protector never slumbers;
at the will of your Defender ev’ry foeman must surrender.

Though he giveth or he taketh, God his children ne’er forsaketh;
his the loving purpose solely to preserve them pure and holy.

Lina Sandell (1832-1903), tr. Ernst W. Olson (1870-1958), © Lutheran Church in America.
The Covenant Hymnal: a Worshipbook (1996), No. 87.

...Your eyes saw my unformed body (Psalm 139:16).

Sometimes, I wish I could return to the past and correct the mean things I did to my brothers and sisters. Maybe if I had been born into another family....but if this had happened, I would not have been me. If even one parent had been different, I would not be me.

The psalmist says that God watched me when I was being formed inside my mother where no one else could see. That means that God knew exactly what I would look like and the kind of personality I would have before I was even born. Since God knew me while I was yet unformed, he must have planned for me to be. That means that I am not an accident; neither are you. Since God planned for you to be, he must have a plan for you. You are special.

Lucy Daniels (1946- ), You are Special (Booklet, 1987).

Thou tender, gracious Father, who watches over me,
how shall ever praise thee, how love and honor thee?
Thou guidest me with caution from ev’ry secret snare,
and ‘neath thy wings a refuge I find in my despair.

With raiment, food, and shelter, whate’er my needs imply,
for soul and body ever do thou in grace supply.
O Lord, I soon would perish if aught thou should exclude;
O could I love thee better and prove my gratitude.

In childlike, true obedience help me to do the right;
May precious be thy statutes, thy yoke be pleasant, light!
And when some hardship threatens, a danger frightens me,
may thou in all my trials my present helper be.

Thy heart is all compassion, with love it overflows;
whate’er of ill betide me, thou knowest, and my woes.
Thou dost not sleep nor slumber by night nor through the days;
thine arms, almighty Father, enfold all time and space.

Lina Sandell (1832-1903), “Thou Tender, Gracious Father,” tr. Carl O. Dahlen (1867-1938)
From The Covenant Hymnal (1973), No. 97.

If God wants to take me home I do not want to stay here on earth any longer. It may be that one wishes for himself an extended lifetime; or in a given circumstance one may wish to die. But our lives belong to the Lord, and all that we are or have should be surrendered to him in life or in death. His will should be the norm for everything. Whether we are in prosperity or distress, whether God gives or takes, we are his. We should be satisfied with the hour or manner that he chooses to call us from this life.

C. O. Rosenius (1816-1868), Romans: A Devotional Commentary, J. Elmer Dahlgren and Royal F. Peterson, translators (1978), p. 194.

Sovereign Over All

It must be understood that God’s purposive activity is present throughout the whole creation–in the far-flung galaxies of space, in the rise and fall of nations, in the everyday lives of individuals, great and small. The mere fact that the creation exists and is constantly sustained in its being is an expression of his holy will. The orderliness and dependability of the processes of nature (the so-call “laws of nature”) are an indication of his faithfulness. The complexities and intricacies of the ecological balances of nature are all providentially ordered.

It is, of course, true that nature and history and also characterized by much that seems to deny purpose. Nature is marked by seemingly unnecessary suffering, by natural disasters, and consequent destruction and waste. History does not always reward righteousness. In all honesty we must admit that God’s purposes are not immediately apparent to our observation. But the doctrine of providence is not based upon our experience of meaningfulness or the lack of it, but upon God’s disclosure of his purpose. “And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purpose in Christ, to be put into effect when the times have reached their fulfillment–to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ” (Ephesians 1: 9,10, NIV).

Donald C. Frisk (1911- ), Covenant Affirmations: This We Believe (1981), p. 41.

CALLIGRAPHY

There is a strange calligraphy
Connecting each event
Of import in my life ...
So that a moment that has meant,
Perhaps, particularly nothing
Has an artistic reason,
And every ill-assorted happening
a purposed season.

Fred Moeckel (1929-1966), None But A Child May Enter (1982), p. 26.

When the Reds [Communist soldiers] first arrived they went over to the mission station and hauled out all the groceries they could find. They came and handed me a few cans of milk, a big can of cocoa, a bottle of ketchup, some Kraft cheese, and a can of rolled oats. This was my part of the loot. I did feel badly that the station should be robbed of all these good things and was reluctant to use any of it, but thought that I might as well rather than see it destroyed. The day we arrived I went over to the mission station with Dr. Liu. It was sad, beyond words, to see the wanton destruction going on. After the Reds had taken what they wanted, the local people went in and carried away everything that remained. Even doors and windows were taken out. Books were strewn all over. Only a skeleton of the house was left after they had satisfied their greed. I thought to myself that they certainly do not know what they are doing. An organ was carried over to where I stayed, and someone was playing on that all the time. Dr. Liu, who was a Christian, knew how to play. After he had found a hymn book with notes, he and I played and sang some hymns together.

After three days in the city, orders came to cross the Han River. The troops went to Yuinyang, another big city about forty miles above Kunchow. The remainder of the army, together with some soldiers as guards, lived in the country across the river for about two days.

While there I had a very precious experience which showed that God was with me, and that he knew what I needed just then. One of the men at the hospital had gotten hold of a preacher's long coat. While he was searching the pockets a slip of paper fell out. I was standing close by and noticed the paper fall. Picking it up I found a Norwegian song written on it. The topic of the song was “Wait on the Lord.” The general thought of the four stanzas was as follows: “God will surely plan your daily experiences so that everything will be for the best. And if you take everything to Jesus you will be able to carry the heaviest load. Truly and firmly God will establish your way throughout life, and as you rest in him you are guided from sorrow and calamity. When the hour of departure has come, everything being prepared, then, you who have complained will feel ashamed because before you know it you will be at home. Amen, amen, in thy name, My Jesus, I am still. Thou, Lord, will surely plan my days just as thou dost see fit.”

I cannot explain my feelings as I tried to read that song. It contained a message which strengthened my faith and gave me new courage. I put it in my New Testament and read it time and again during the remaining weeks of my captivity. The friends at Laohokow sang the song for my benefit when I passed through there a month later.

C. Oscar Anderson (1893-1950), “The Chase Begins,” in Two Lives of Faith: the Autobiographies of C. Oscar and Ruth M. Anderson (Published by their Sons and Daughters,1974), pp. 72,73.

Wheresoe’er I roam, through valleys dreary, over mountains or in pathless wood,
ever with me is a Friend to cheer me, warning, comforting as none else could.
‘Tis the Shepherd, who once dying, bleeding, now through all eternity shall live.
Jesus leads his flock, protecting, feeding, and the tend’rest care doth give.

All my needs eternally supplying, all in all that Friend to me shall be;
ev’rything for which my heart is sighing, Jesus knows and helps me lovingly.
Though I often feel forsaken, lonely, he is ever near, for he did say:
“I am with you always,” and this only gives me courage on my way.

Pierced heart, with love o’erflowing guide me, help me through life’s desert find my way;
let my faith, no matter what betide me, find assurance in your wounds each day.
To your presence–for this life is fleeting–take me, wash my garments in your blood;
and with Thomas may I, at your meeting, cry with joy, “My Lord and God!”

C. O. Rosenius (1816-1868), “Wheresoe’er I Roam,” tr. Victor O. Peterson (1864-1929), © Fortress Press, From The Covenant Hymnal: a Worshipbook (1996), No. 427.

Thanks to God for my Redeemer, thanks for all thou dost provide!
Thanks for times now but a mem’ry, thanks for Jesus by my side!
Thanks for pleasant, balmy springtime, thanks for dark and dreary fall!
Thanks for tears by now forgotten, thanks for peace within my soul!

Thanks for prayers that thou hast answered, thanks for what thou dost deny!
Thanks for storms that I have weathered, thanks for all thou dost supply!
Thanks for pain and thanks for pleasure, thanks for comfort in despair!
Thanks for grace that none can measure, thanks for love beyond compare!

Thanks for roses by the wayside, thanks for thorns their stems contain!
Thanks for home and thanks for fireside, thanks for hope, that sweet refrain!
Thanks for joy and thanks for sorrow, thanks for heav’nly peace with thee!
Thanks for hope in the tomorrow, thanks through all eternity!

August Ludvig Storm (1862-1914), “Thanks to God,” tr. Carl E. Backstrom (1901-1984)
From The Covenant Hymnal, a Worshipbook (1996), No. 657.

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Nearly seventeen years into retirement, I am enjoying the opportunity to share thoughts and life experiences on a regular basis. This blog is part of a larger personal website at www.rootedwings.com. Your comments, thoughts, and life experience responses are not only invited but welcome!