When considering the providence of God, October 6, 2015

October 6, 2015

When considering the providence of God . . . .

Too vast the ocean, too many the grains of sand.
Such is the providence of God

Such is my reflection and consideration.

Trying to "count one's blessing" is a most frustrating endeavor.

Too vast, too many.

Neatly woven like a web, God's providence touches all, all the time.

There are no loose ends no blind courses

God's providence is a whole - complete and entire.

There are no "great" blessings there are no "minor" blessings.
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They are all of one value, great beyond grasping.

Though not always in our view they are utterly purposeful and directive.

Those past are our guides and instructors.

Those present are our comfort and consolation.

Those future are our hope and joy.

Our perception of them, often sullied by indwelling sin,
causes us to rate them on a skewed scale feeding our self consumption and yet rebellious wills.

Surrender brings peace and comfort.

Trusting, when trust is hard, brings strength and growth.

We need be patient with ourselves as we learn to appreciate His providence and to see the value in the whole of it.

We need to see the whole of it.  Though hard and demanding we need to do the work that helps us see the whole of it.

One does not look at a part of a portrait and see its beauty, one must view the whole.

A critical question and comfort

"Has God weakened your ability to sin, denied you the opportunity, taken away the object of your lust, or diverted your thoughts?  Be sure that you have received mercy in this.  If God had not so dealt with you, you might by now be a terror to yourself, a shame to your family, and under the punishment due to some notorious sin.  You would have incurred additional guilt, perhaps ruined others, or caused some to be eternally ruined by your example.  All this has been prevented by these providences and eternity will witness that this is a special mercy.  These are not accidents.  The merciful hand of God is in them.  And you are less wicked than you would otherwise be."  John Owen

How often do we consider God's providential interference with our flesh?  How often do we, in prayer, thank and praise Him for intruding into our lives so that we can avoid offending Him?

How may times has a lost minute, a traffic light, a phone call, a cable outage, some interruption kept us from sin.

I don't think we consider this very often at all.  But there are no small mercies, no small blessing and this is one that we somehow don't see and certainly we don't give thank for.

Our consciences both spiritual and social may keep us from the "biggies" but it in God's providence none the less.  And when our consciences are diverted, when we are distracted from our service to Him it is His gracious providence that hedges us in, redirects our glance, halts our tongues, stops our train of thought.

When you pray don't forget these mercies, these blessings.  You may not have any specific thing to thank Him for but He knows where He has provided even if you don't.  Praying for those unknown - unseen mercies will bring depth and joy to your prayers.  They will also serve to make your conscience more tender so you will begin to see them and count them wonderful.

Indeed, even when we are unaware, "There but for the grace of God go we."