Prepare for Providence!

In this New Year, it is a healthy exercise to pause every so often and ponder the Providence of the Father.

He really does love you personally.

He really does speak, every week, to help you learn what His best plans are for you.

He really does reach out from the eternal realm, into this temporal realm, and give you grace and strength to go on, no matter how hard the path.

The idea that His handiwork has led you to this very day, and oftentimes He has gone ahead of you, should lead you to praise and thanksgiving.

He is ahead of you now.

He is dwelling many years into your very future, and shifting and changing things so that when you arrive, you find your path made clear, and your heart’s calling finds fulfillment.

What do I mean by the word, “providence”?

Your Father is speaking through His direct and indirect leadings of circumstances and outward signs.

Often you will not notice His guidance through these outward circumstances, but later, when you look back, you recognize how everything worked itself out for your good, and it was He that was taking the initiative to bring His will to pass for you.

Remember this Old Testament Scripture of Providence reflected in the life of Joseph?

“Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt. As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive” (Genesis 45:8 & 50:20).

As Paul reminds us in Romans,

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Many of you know I am in a battle with cancer.

God will cause it to work together for good.

America is in a massive political shift.

God will cause it to work together for good.

The world is teetering on the brink of financial instability, terrorist threats and attacks, and environmental disasters.

God will cause it to work together for good.

Commander Robert E. Lee, remarking on his achievements during the American Civil War, once said, “My trust is in the mercy and wisdom of a kind Providence, who orders all things for our good.”

A number of years ago I was reading through a massive 2-volume set on the life of 18th century evangelist George Whitefield. Each volume contained more than 500 pages so it was taking me some months to read through. At the same time, I was praying over an invitation to return to London and preach the gospel, and I needed to know if God’s will was in this particular trip.
I finished reading one night in my book and put my marker down at the end of a particular chapter. It “happened” to be on page 498.

The next day I was running late for an appointment. I tend to drive a little fast when I am running late (which happens most of the time). One thing I hate when trying to go fast is when there is a slow car in front of me. Suddenly I felt the Lord impress upon me to write down her license plate number. I looked at it, grabbed a piece of paper, and wrote down, GWF 499.

I thought nothing of it at the time, finally passing this car and arriving late to my appointment. I had stuffed the piece of paper into my pocket.

Late that night, I was sitting in my rocking chair in my study and praying, “Lord, do you want me to take this invitation to preach in London?” He said, “Look again at that license plate number.”

So I pulled out the license plate info and pondered it. What could it mean? GWF…ah! A light bulb went off. Maybe that stands for “George WhiteField!” and the number, 499? Maybe the page number of the book?

So I quickly grabbed the volume of the book I had been reading, and opened it up to find my marker at exactly page 498. As I turned the page, I realized I would have the answer to my prayer on that page, if I was discerning correctly the Providence of God in sending that slow driver in the green car in answer to my prayers.

Sure enough, GWF, page 499, had a quotation of a letter that John Wesley had written to Whitefield, inviting him to come to London to preach!!!

God can use ANYTHING and EVERYTHING in your circumstances to speak to you. You just need to be aware that HE is there—a God who truly is, “ever-present.”

So, prepare for Providence in 2017!

***This is an excerpt from one of the 21 Ways that God speaks, outlined in my new book, “Love Speaks: 21 Ways to Recognize God’s Multi-Faceted Voice.” You can learn about all 21!