Mystery of Providence - Chapter 5

All right, so chapter five. This is over family relations and how God sustains our households.

We'll just get into it. This is a bit shorter than the other chapters, so who knows how quick we'll go through. So there are two major ways that he points out initially that God's providence is made evident in how he orders our relationships, specifically in providing us spouses and in giving our marriages children.

He is over both of these things, and it's really important for us to really consider we've been blessed by these things, how they've come about.

So there's gonna be a lot of personal stories in this one especially. So first off, God appoints the parties of marriages for one another.

So the points he made were sort of funny. I don't relate to both of them, but both of them are definitely inside of my marriage at the same time.

So the first one was God often goes against the intended desires of man to give him a wife to his benefit.

I cannot say that that is my experience. Tasha is sort of exactly the kind of woman

I wanted to find and marry. However, at the time, I was very much not the kind of man she wanted to marry and wanted to be with.

So it was something where upon meeting me, starting to date me, I was just very much against what she was used to dating in a lot of different ways.

And God worked this for sort of sharpening her and sharpening me to give us some kind of like, not necessarily conflict, but things that we needed to work out and bring to him and work out with one another.

And the other one was that God is just in general infinitely wise in his choices for what will most benefit us.

This is I think just made more evident as your marriage goes along. You have to recognize all kinds of reasons why he's put you together, whether it be temperaments or ways that you spurn one another onto good things.

I know that like coming out to California is something I actually largely only did because of Tasha. She's from California, and she was perfectly fine with and actually preferred to come back to California instead of staying anywhere else.

And I was very comfortable just like being calm, staying in the Midwest, not going beyond like what

I was comfortable with. But by being with her, it actually pushed me to think about these things. So God was wise in giving me her so that he could bless me in other ways and in the end bring me here.

Next major point, not just appointing the parties in marriage for one another, but God provides us with harmonious and agreeable tempers in our marriage.

So it's ways that we do not necessarily fight with one another. It doesn't mean that he blesses all marriages without any kind of conflict.

And in a sense, if you find yourself in constant conflict, you may wanna ask what he's trying to teach both of you and what he's trying to sharpen, especially in the fruit of the spirit in your marriage.

Again, for my own, we were not as harmonious early on, but then COVID sort of caused a quick streak of that to be smoothed out because we were forced into close proximity for so long that we had to just work out all the differences between the two of us really quickly.

And so for us, it was upon actually reading the scriptures together and recognizing what it says about marriage, what it says about our roles that helped us to understand that more so.

And that's something he points to here. With Genesis 2 .24, we see the mystery of how

God brings together two distinct peoples into one flesh. That's not just poetic language, it's very serious and very real to how it actually is when you live in marriage with one another, when you have your conjugal rights, when you do all of these different things, your marriage does bring you together in a way that you wouldn't have deemed or thought possible in any other context.

And you won't really see that with any other human relationship. In Matthew 19 .5,

I'm gonna bring that up because I don't remember if this quote is from him or from that scripture itself.

Let's not read the NIV. For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two will become one flesh.

So Matthew's just quoting Genesis, but he stated in the book, those who so lately were mere strangers to each other are now endeared to a degree beyond the nearest relations in blood as above.

Something Tasha mentioned to me on the drive here is just like thinking of God's providence and the happenings and specific events in our lives, even multiple generations back that brought us together.

We only met because we happened to go to the same school in Ohio. She only went to that school in Ohio because her aunt worked there.

Her aunt only worked there because her grandfather went into the Air Force and ended up there. He only went into the

Air Force because to sign up for the military, the Air Force had the shortest line that day.

So the choice of a line one day ended up determining our marriage to exist effectively.

So just thinking about the strange ways that God brings you together, it goes back much further than just you finding one another.

Now, point three within this, God uses a spouse to improve the eternal good of the other.

If one is unsaved, the saved spouse may be an instrument of saving faith for the unsaved. You can see this in 1

Corinthians 7, 16 and in 1 Peter 3, 1. Just different ways that we exhort one another.

And now if both are saved, you gain an even greater eternal good as you exhort one another onto the general callings that you have in the

Lord and also just the blessings that he's given you. And especially as a husband, you have a duty, you know, wash your wife with the word and to actually bring her along and to, in a sense, take that responsibility as an admonition to yourself to continue to grow and to grow rapidly.

Something he meant to say. Oh, blessed providence that direct as such so into so intimate relation on earth who shall inherit together the common salvation in heaven.

Now, even though there is no marriage in heaven, so I will no longer be married to my wife, you will no longer be married to your spouses.

However, if you are both saved, you will still be a part of Christ's bride in eternity and able to recognize one another.

And there's a special kind of relationship and understanding you will have of that person and of your own children.

That's something he mentions throughout this book. It's just something to really consider the gift and benefit that will be in eternity.

Now, moving on just from the marriage, we're gonna move into the fruit of marriage a bit. God's providence is seen in children.

Let's look at Isaiah 49, 20. If you can actually pull that up in your

Bibles, I think it's worth actually reading what is stated here because the point he made was a little bit complicated to parse out, at least for myself.

So again, Isaiah 49, 20. The children of your bereavement will yet say in your ears, the place is too narrow for me.

Make room for me to dwell in. Now, the translation he referenced in the book was saying it was too straight.

And so, as I interpreted what he was trying to say is that there's little available space in this home,

Isaiah 49, but think of reasons why that may be. It's because there are so many children within this house.

Now, there's also children of bereavement. There's some who've been shut out. But the ones who are left are like, there's still so many of us here.

But instead of it being small in a place that they don't wish to be, it's a place that even though it is so tight, they desire a place within that household.

That's the give me place that I may dwell. And so, the sense in which you want, I know a lot of people sort of talk about not having children because of resource constraints, space constraints, but rather having children, it's a gift from the

Lord. It's a gift that he'll give you in abundance. And that abundance may seem difficult, but even your children will eventually at some point thank you for this and thank you for the family that God has actually provided you.

Moving on a bit to unequally yoked marriages, he wanted to point this out a bit and even show ways that God is provident in providing these to people.

You can find unequally yoked marriages in the world and in scripture, which

God may use to greater sanctification or greater earthly punishment. He mentioned a few biblical examples.

I wanna just go through them real quick. Abigail was a very gracious and good woman married to Nabal, a very foolish man, who if you remember,

David was on his way to kill Nabal because of how he disrespected and sort of misidentified who

David even was, thinking he's simply a slave and not himself an anointed king to be. And Abigail, in her wisdom, came and gave a gift to David and kept him from killing

Nabal. And eventually Abigail actually becomes David's wife because Nabal ends up dying anyways.

But it's a point out that these people are paired together, not necessarily very similar people.

Abigail, again, gracious, Nabal, meaning fool. His name just means fool. And so they're put together very unequally, but God uses this to actually bless

David and in turn bless Abigail. Moses failed to circumcise his son.

The angel of the Lord was coming to kill Moses because of his disobedience, and Zipporah corrects this in the moment.

So she corrects this, circumcises the son, stays the hand of the Lord, and then she praises the

Lord for doing so. So this is where a wife is able to make up again for the weakness of her husband, this time saving her husband rather than condemning him to greater folly.

Michal, don't know how to say your name, scoffed at David's worship before the Lord. This is the famous David dancing naked before the

Lord and his wife being very angry that he's doing this in front of everyone. But scripture sort of points it out as David having a pure and great worship for the

Lord. And Michal, if you remember, she's the daughter given to David as a wife from Saul, met more as a punishment too because she is not an

Israelite, if I remember correctly. Conley, can you correct me with that? Michal, she was -

Saul's daughter. Yeah, she's Saul's daughter, but she worshiped idols. She was not one who worshiped the

Lord if I remember how she's introduced. Right, yeah, okay.

Job's afflictions were added to by his wife. She told him to curse God and die and did not stay to comfort him.

So there's really two references to his wife being a burden upon him in this trial specifically. And depending on how you read it, it may be that he gets his same wife back or he gets a new wife back.

There's different arguments on that. But regardless, her disregard for him helps sort of press in the point that Job needs to be firm upon his trust of the

Lord rather than those around him. Now, he talks a bit about people not being given children and God may actually refuse to provide people children as a form of punishment or as a sort of way of paying back their lack of faith.

Let's look at the two passages I have here. Jeremiah 2230 and Hosea 912.

Start with Jeremiah. Thus says the Lord, write this man down as childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days, for none of his offspring shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah.

And then in Hosea, even if they bring up children,

I will bereave them till none is left. Woe to them when I depart from them. Especially focusing on Jeremiah 22.

It's not just not giving a man children and also condemning a man's children or removing his children from him.

We see this multiple times, the priests, especially in the Old Testament where God, like with the priest

Eli and his whole family, deeming that all his sons would be lost and his line would be ended.

Sort of pointing out that these are decisions from the Lord. It's something he would do out of punishment to people.

Does not mean that if you're childless that this is necessarily a punishment from the Lord, but it is one to consider or what are you, are you lacking faith in some regard?

Are you not giving your life to him in ways that he's very clearly asking you to? I know that for my wife and I, we experienced two miscarriages between our first and second daughters.

And we do think that those were in some sense related to sin that we had in our lives, not trusting the

Lord in particular with pregnancies to begin with. And so that was something we became convicted of in our particular situation.

So don't write it off as impossible that God never gives you, in some sense, he gives you bereavement.

We'll use scripture's words for it. He will give you bereavement if it's necessary unto teaching you more about how to love and know him.

And again, Genesis 26, 34 through 35, there's a sense in which children are a blessing from the

Lord, quivers, arrows in the quiver, not quivers in the arrow, as I often try to say.

But actually he quotes this as saying, God may use children and near relations as the greatest instruments of affliction to their parents and friends.

I think all of us maybe have some difficulty with our families that we've grown up with, but there's a sense in which we can see it in scripture that God does use them as tools for teaching and does use them as tools for giving us affliction.

You can see it even with Jacob and Esau, for example. Esau is a great instrument of affliction towards Jacob and Jacob toward Esau, but it's unto

Jacob's sanctification. And our last point within this whole section, we have duties to God if we experience any of these providences.

This is something he starts to harp on more and more in the following chapters too. And it'll be a lot of the rest of this book as well.

Sub points for that, glorify God for these providences, do right by the relationships and providence that God has blessed you with, and do what you can to improve the relationships

God has given you. It's not just that we should be remembering these things, but we should, once we identify them, be thinking about what we can even do to increase the surrounding situations that we have and the surrounding relationships we have to bring greater glory to God, and in turn also to experience and recognize even more of his providences.

So do right, especially do right by the relationships and providence God has blessed you with. He has a sense in which we're very prone as people to take for granted the relationships that we are given, take for granted the people of the church, take for granted all the things that occur.

And so we really should be thinking about how we can live sacrificially towards one another and live out the stuff that we have been reading through in Romans especially, just during church services, that we need to weep with one another, rejoice with one another, and do all of life together.

Next major point, God may bless you and your family with very particular provisions.

So let's especially look at Lamentations 3 .23 because it comes up a lot in following chapters of this book, but God provides constantly for us, is one of the initial points he wants to make while you're looking that up.

One of the things I often mention to people in street preaching, when they're like trying to act like God has no play in anything that they do,

I just remind them that they're only breathing because he desires to let them breathe. There's even a sense in that very minimal common grace is given to all man.

So when we think God is doing nothing for me, just think that you're even able to think that thought is something he's done for you in that moment.

There's really a need for us to humble ourselves before the Lord in every single one of our thoughts in recognizing what's going on in life.

So Lamentations 3 .22 to 23. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.

His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.

There are more passages to go to, but that one again, it just comes up a lot. So it's worth keeping in your heart.

A quote from the book I really enjoyed. I persuade thee, reader, to record the ways of providence from first to last throughout thy whole course to this day that thou mayest see what a

God he hath been to thee. My wife and I started a shared iCloud note to start putting these things into, and I know

I've already failed to put a bunch of things into there. And so it's just recognizing that we do, I think, have some kind of duty to actually know and recognize what the

Lord has done for us. And so whatever that requires of you as an individual recording, or maybe you have a great memory, you don't need to do so, but I think we should all not trust that.

And even just for the sake of giving that record to our children, giving that record to other believers, it's good if we actually record these things down and recognize them for when they've happened.

Especially because of this next point, God does provide for us in right and very particular timings.

There were a lot of specific stories, I think, in this section of the chapter about men who just experienced great providence like in the nick of time kind of situations.

And I think a lot of us have experienced a lot of those things. I know that for myself, all these like, I've made a lot of lateral moves inside my company.

And almost every single time I've like moved from one org to another, like a grand layoff happened in the org

I left from, or something like that. And it's like a narrow escape from these kinds of things. And these always came at like the last moment,

God providing some kind of outlet for me to leave and go to a different spot of the company. And so just recognizing these small things that he does that are actually grand things as well.

And last point, it's similar to the one back in marriage, actually, that God is wise in providing for us.

He answers our real needs rather than our extravagant wishes. The manner of providing for us is itself immensely wise.

And he provides for us mostly so that his glory may become more magnificent. Let's look at Deuteronomy 8 .3.

So this is speaking to Israel about how he served them in the wilderness.

And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the

Lord. This is especially important as we get into the next few chapters where we sort of talk about the provision of man and the provision of God, and that really the provision of man is itself subservient to the provision of God.

God is the reason that man is able to even serve you and provide for you. And that man is yourself, it's other people, it's your employers.

God is the one orchestrating all of these different things. And so some final takeaways from this chapter and from these topics, and a lot of scripture to boot with it.

Do not forget how kind God has been to you. And I think we should go ahead and look at all the different scriptures in this passage so we can really hammer them in.

So again, do not forget how kind God has been to you, Psalm 106 .13. I'm gonna rapid fire read these because of time.

But they soon forgot his works. They did not wait for his counsel.

Yet another reason to record them in some way that you know will actually help you remember what he has done.

And as a way to encourage you when you feel a temptation and when you feel problems coming along.

Another one, do not distrust that God will provide for you later as he has already proven himself.

Psalm 78 .20, I'm gonna read that. He struck the rock so the water gushed out and streams overflowed.

Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people? This is more a rhetorical question in this psalm where you saw the people being given manna, being given water, being given all that they needed, but they still complained and requested that they be given meat because they did not have meat.

And God punishes them for this distrust in him. We see this constantly with Israel throughout the

Old Testament where they distrust the Lord despite what he's already done for them. Try not to find yourself in those same shoes as you go about your days.

God is not obligated to be gracious and we must not murmur when life becomes somewhat difficult.

Again, trials are often meant to, in a sense like James says, test our faith.

Or they are also there to just help us grow in the steadfastness already that we have in the Lord. Or it may actually be some kind of grand discipline to help you recognize where you're not trusting the

Lord currently, where you're not following alongside him in your life. So just like your own parents have to do some kind of thing to you as a child whenever you are just being unwise, whether it be denying you some comforts that you think are given to you when they're just not, they're not owed to you at all, when instead they are things that he's gifted you with.

It is entirely his right to take them away. Do not be discontented with what

God has given you. The scripture for this one is Psalm 16 .6. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.

Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. This is not even specifically about being content with what

God has given us right now, but also being content with the gift that he's given us for eternity, that we have this great inheritance.

We are his adopted children. There is this coming. And that is, again, part of the reason we should not be murmuring when life becomes difficult, because he has promised us something he will not take away.

When in need, throw yourself upon the Lord. Isaiah 41 .17. When the poor and needy seek water and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst,

I, the Lord, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. And Philippians 4 .6

as well. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication when thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Part of recognizing our providence, the providence that God has given us is recognizing also the means by which he has asked us to request providence from him.

We are here at a prayer night. Conley has frequently mentioned to us to bring our great requests to the

Lord, to not be afraid of what we're asking, but to just look at what we're asking and say, is it lawful for me to ask this?

Is this something that is within his desires? Is this something within the will of the

Lord? And to ask for clarity on that if there is no clarity. But we should not be afraid to ask these things and to even ask one another to pray for these things for one another.

And last in this list, do not become distracted with sinful desires, but rather focus on what

Christ has promised to you. Let's look at Matthew 6, 25 through 26.

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.

Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly father feeds them.

Are you not of more value than they? Amen. We've all read that many times probably.

It's something that I think for myself, I've often sinned in a sense of not considering myself of much value to the

Lord, not much value to myself and to others. And rather it is, that is itself a sinful desire to make ourselves lesser than the

Lord has desired us to be. And so instead recognize that not because of anything within you,

God has chosen you so that you may be an instrument of grace, of glory unto him. Recognize that role that he's given you.

Does anyone have any thoughts or questions from this chapter? Things that encourage them?

Is people who think apply less of a responsibility on them so that they would just kind of wait for God to show up at their door?

And this is often recommended by people who are older than they too will say things like, well, it was when

I stopped looking, that's when God finally provided and stuff like that. But you know, we looked earlier at conversion being a greater matter of providence and that doesn't justify not evangelizing.

So yeah, just something to consider is that none of these statements about something being given from God means that we're not.