Phil. 1:21

"For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain" Phil. 1:21

We don't talk about providence much any more. In the old days people did, and people attributed a lot of events to providence. It wasn't just any providence; this was THE Providence of God. If a storm blew up out of the west and hail destroyed a house, it was God's providence. If the crops produced more than enough food for the winter, it was God's providence. If a wondrous sight appeared in the night sky, it was God's providence. As you can see, God's providence was deeply ingrained in their lives. But what IS God's providence?

Providence is the understanding that God is in total control. Everything that happens is first filtered through God's purposes and plans. Satan's work in our lives... approved by God. Natural occurrences that change our lives... approved by God. Illness, health, marriage, death, success, failure, victory, defeat... all approved by God. We don't believe much in providence anymore.

We believe we are in control of our circumstances. We want to be in charge of every aspect of our lives and we are all like that... if we are perfectly honest.

But that is not God's way. The Bible uses a word we translate as "trust". It is the same word that we also translate "faith". God asks us to trust Him... put our complete faith in His ability to run our lives. Most of us can heartily accept God's ability to forgive us and save us from our sinful natures. We firmly believe (have faith in) that God paid the price for our transgressions. Where we fail is in trusting Him with our finances, our marriages, our children, our purchases, our needs and wants. We say we have faith in God... but by our actions, our insisting on controlling our own lives, we are telling Him, and the world, that we can do a better job of it ourselves.

Paul didn't have that problem. He totally entrusted his life to the Father. More than once he faced death in the midst of his ministry. He lived to tell us about it. He was stoned to death (he himself doesn't know but what his spirit had left him and he visited heaven) but God sent him back to the same town to finish his ministry there. Three times he faced shipwreck, the most severe on the way to Rome as a prisoner. Each time he trusted God to take care of him. He lived only to be bitten by a viper. Even that did not kill him but opened doors to preach the Gospel. Now, as he faced the death penalty for doing no wrong, he was satisfied that whatever God wanted to do was fine with him.

"For me to live is Christ... " Paul says he is satisfied to live if that is what God wants for in living he is free to testify of the great things God has done for him. "... but to die is gain." And if he should be crucified on the next day, or the next, or the one after that, he is satisfied that he will hear Jesus say, "Enter in good and faithful servant. Great is your reward in Heaven." Paul believed in providence...God's providence.

Do you? Amen and Amen.