Providence

I am always amazed by the treasures one is able to find in the course of daily Bible reading inspite of many previous visits to the same pages. Today I was reading in 2 Kings 8 and discovered an amazing instance of God’s providence. Briefly, the story there goes like this:

The woman, whose son Elisha had raised from the dead (after the boy’s miraculous conception and birth in the first place) faces the reality of a seven year famine in the land and moves to Philistine country in order to survive. After the famine is over she comes back to her home in Israel to secure her former possessions. She visits the king to request that her home and land be given back to her. When she lived there before, she enjoyed wealth and prosperity. Now all of that was gone unless she is able to gain the king’s favour. At the very time she came to visit the king, Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, was telling the king about all the miracles Elisha had performed. He was just telling the king about this woman and the resurrection of her son from the dead when she walked in. The king was so impressed that he not only restored her property but paid her back all earnings she had lost during the seven year famine.

This story is included in the Bible here as another instance of the many ways the Spirit of God worked through Elisha to accomplish extraordinary things as a testimony to God’s reality in Israel. Elisha’s miraculous life not only points the way to Jesus upon whom the Spirit came in similar ways, but also to the supernatural way in which we can expect God to work in our lives as folowers of Christ. God has ordained that His people should live supernaturally — experiencing similar miraculous touches in their lives. Undoubtedly this happens all of the time but we don’t always recognize the coincidence of circumstances as instances of God’s providence.

Imediately after reading this story and meditating upon it, I had an experience of God’s providence in which I was about to dial someone for help when the phone rang — at that very moment. The call was from someone who was circumstantially positioned to provide the same help in a better way. To me, it was a wonderful instance of the very thing I had just been reading about.

I realized anew how dependent I am on God and His providence for the resolution of many daily needs. Right now I am trusting God for His supernatural help with a number of different matters in my life. Only God can order circumstances so that things come together in a way that is a blessing to me and to others. I need to live with an attitude of trust in His providence.

And when it seems that His providence is not immediately in my favour (as when there is “a famine in the land”) I need to remember that He is still at work, still mindful of all that concerns me, still committed to His promise that He will supply all of my needs according to the riches of His glory available to me in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

ED