Misreading providence
"Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of men!" (Psalm 107:8)
"...do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?" (Luke 13:4)
July 18, 2024
Dear friends,
I am thankful that Donald Trump's life was spared in the recent assassination attempt. Indeed, he was an inch away -- or a turn of the head away -- from death.
It is possible to read too much into this, even though it is a remarkable instance of God's providence. Some pastors and Christians have maintained that this was a supernatural vindication of Trump's divine calling. Well, okay, maybe… but I don't think we can really know that.
One thing we learn in our study of God's working in history is that we should thank God for his providential care for us every day. However, people who die young or tragically are not necessarily worse sinners than others (Luke 13:1-5), and people who are blessed with long life and power are not necessarily the better people (see Ecclesiastes). Andrew Walker recently commented to Politico, “Providence is best understood in the rearview mirror.” Providence is more about the kindness of God (who is remarkable) rather than the remarkableness of any mere human.
A case in point: this week I came out of our house to get the mail and to retrieve our trash receptacle from the curve. A bolt of lightning hit a tree about 30 feet from where I was walking. It was the loudest explosion, and brightest flash, that I have ever experienced in my life. Amazingly, I was unharmed, and ran quickly back into the house. Having spent time on a farm I knew that the ground current from lightning often kills livestock standing under trees. The Lord in his very kind providence spared me from death.
What do I make of this? Is it God's approval upon my life? Was Satan trying to take me out, but an angel intervened? Or is it that something great is going to happen through me because I was spared from an untimely death? I believe all of these speculations are beyond the mark, or at least, beyond what we can know right now.
Every occasion of God's providence -- whether we see it or not -- comes from God and is in some sense miraculous and supernatural -- even that near-miss you had when driving on the highway. It is a demonstration of God's mercy. It is not necessarily a seal of approval upon you. But it should become an occasion for deeper humility, and for profound thankfulness on our part, because God has shown himself to be so very merciful and kind toward us, as we live out our vulnerable lives in this uncertain world of ours.
Yet, any person's vindication before God and others, or any sense of divine calling, will not be verified by these dramatic instances, but rather by the fruit of a life lived for the glory of God and in service to others. As it was said, "Providence is best understood in the rearview mirror."
Let’s be thankful that Mr. Trump’s life was spared, and let’s continue to pray for all the leaders of our nation, that they would have a heart to lead us in righteousness.
MISCELLANEOUS.
-- "What is repugnant to every human being is to be reckoned always as a member of a class and not as an individual person." (Dorothy Sayers)
-- "For the first time in eight decades, more adults in the United States don’t attend church than attend church."
-- "It is important to point out that idols were, and still are, things that people trusted rather than things they loved. They often feared their idols. 'Worship' meant more an acceptance of superior authority, a 'bowing down' before that authority, rather than carrying any sense of affection or positive devotion." -- John Lennox, 2084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity (Zondervan, 2020) [Excellent book -- recommended!]
-- For those of you in the adult SS class on Esther, here is my reading guide for Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.
-- Reposting: Lesslie Newbigin on "Can a modern society be Christian?"
-- I'm liking this musical version of Psalm 144 by Brian Sauvé.
-- Hungry, hungry hippos are on the loose in South America.
FINAL QUOTE.
"The older I get, the more I want to sing my faith and get others singing it with me. Theology, as I constantly tell my students is for doxology: the first thing to do with it is to turn it into praise and thus honour the God who is its subject, the God in whose presence and by whose help it was worked out. Paul’s summons to sing and make music in one’s heart to the Lord is a word for theologians no less than for other people (Ephesians 5:19). Theologies that cannot be sung (or prayed for that matter) are certainly wrong at a deep level, and such theologies leave me, in both senses, cold: cold-hearted and uninterested." (J. I. Packer, God Has Spoken)
That's it for this week!
Sandy
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.