Providence

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Psalms 104:1
They all depend on You to give them food as they need it. When You
supply it, they gather it.  You open Your hand to feed them, and they
are richly satisfied (vv.27-28).

My family spent the past week nervously watching
the progress of a storm that was predicted
to hit our area about the time we planned to
leave on vacation. The storm arrived 2 days before we
were scheduled to leave, grounding flights and pushing
travelers onto already overbooked planes on future
days. On the morning of our scheduled departure, the
airline called and offered us five round-trip tickets to
anywhere if we would allow them to bump us to the next
day. We quickly took them up on their offer, consoling
our disappointed children with the promise, “Now we
can fly to the Bahamas next year!”

As I reflected on our good fortune, it struck me that
the very storm we feared had turned out to be God’s
blessing in our lives. Some might chalk up our “jackpot”
to fate (as even Solomon observed in his skeptical
mood)—that life “is all decided by chance, by being
in the right place at the right time” (Ecclesiastes 9:11).
And I understand that it’s easier for me to write this than
if our family had waited out the storm on the tarmac,
with nothing to show for our delay. The same storm that
blessed my life was bad news for others.

True enough. But no matter what, we are the recipients of
God’s gracious care. Paul declared that “everything comes
from Him” who “makes everything work out according to
His plan” (Romans 11:36; Ephesians 1:11). We may never
know why this or that misfortune happened to us, but we can trust that whatever
comes our way passes first through the hands of our loving Father. He never stops
providing for His children, and He uses even the storms of life for our good.
Whether your experiences today are good or bad, you can rest in the God
who planned your life “before a single day had passed” (Psalm 139:16).

—Mike Wittmer

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Read Matthew 6:25 to learn what to do when your life isn’t going well.

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Are you troubled or comforted by the sovereignty of God? Why
might it be important to remember that God is in control when events are
not going your way?