Title: God's Providence for Me
Contents
♡♥♡ God's Providence for Me / Exodus 3:1-5
*** Introduction
All of the life we enjoy today is in the providence of God. Do you believe this? If so, you must listen carefully to the present word. This is because the words of this text clearly show the providence of God working through Moses.
One of the famous words of Johann Wesley is: “The best of all is God is with us.” This means, ‘The best thing is that God is with me.’
The most important thing for believers is that ‘God is with me now.’ It doesn't matter if you've been together in the past or will be together in the future. Faith in God must always be present. What you did well in the past is of no use to God. Also, there's no point in trying to do well in the future. Ezekiel 18:24.
“If the righteous turn from his righteousness and sin, and do all the abominations that the wicked do, will he live? None of the righteous deeds he has done will be remembered; he will die for the transgressions he has committed and the sins he has committed.”
In other words, even if a person is righteous by living according to God's will, if his present life is evil, the result is death. This teaches the importance of the present life of the saints. Believers must believe and trust that God is with us now. Without this trust, I cannot have the belief that God is in control and providence in all my life right now. Let's reflect on this fact through the providence of God working in Moses' life. I hope you will listen carefully to the story about Moses from now on and think about how God provided for Moses in his life.
Moses' life was a life of polar opposites, repeated in reversals. The time of birth was probably the time when Pharaoh ordered to kill all male children born in order to prevent the proliferation of Jews. He hid it for three months, and then he could not hide it any longer, so he put it in a reed cart and threw it into the Nile River. The princess, the daughter of Pharaoh, found the reed target and wanted to raise her as her own child. Moses' sister Miriam, who was watching the scene, recommended her mother as a nanny. After Moses got wet, he went to Pharaoh's palace, and for 40 years he learned all the Egyptian studies and court manners. Then, he killed an Egyptian official who oppressed his people, and as a result he fled into the wilderness. In one day, he went from being a nobleman to a wanderer who had nowhere to go and wandered in the wilderness. One day, while sitting by a well, I was helping the daughter of the priest of Midian, who was feeding the flocks. Moses, who even married a priest's daughter, wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, feeding sheep.
When Moses was 80 years old, one day he was feeding sheep when he saw a bush on Mount Horeb caught on fire. But strangely, even though the bush was on fire, it did not burn. As I approached to see this marvelous sight, I heard the voice of God calling me. Then, he is called as a servant of God who wants to fulfill the covenant with Abraham.
Although life is full of ups and downs, isn't it the story of an ordinary person's life? What part of this story is the providence of God? The answer is everything. In other words, God's work and providence worked in Moses' entire life. Even the plans before Moses was born.
From the point of view of Moses or Moses' parents, one can resent the circumstances in which Moses was born. You may be lucky that Moses was found by Pharaoh's daughter and raised as a prince. Then, killing a person and fleeing to the wilderness can be dismissed as an odd fate. It may be a coincidence that he met the daughter of the priest of Midian in the wilderness. From a worldly point of view.
Not to mention the people of the world, even Christians sometimes think and live their lives from this worldly point of view. If you think from this point of view, the name or faith as a Christian is of no use. Moreover, if we live in this perspective, we do not need either God or the blood of Jesus Christ.
However, all these events in Moses' life were God's plan and providence. God trained Moses to be the leader of the people of Israel. In Isaiah 48:10, God said, “Look! I have refined you, but not as silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.” Also, in Job 23:10, “Only he knows the way I go, and after he has tried me I will come out like gold.” This is because Job believed and accepted that this life of suffering was God's providence.
‘Witchman Nee’, who had deep faith in God’s providence, confessed God’s providence for his marriage like this.
He asked the woman he liked to marry him. He was convinced that it was God's will. However, she was rejected by the woman. Then he realized that it was not God's will, and he left the matter to God without asking the woman any more. But the thoughts of the woman constantly dominated him. He believed that if it was God's will to marry that woman, God would open the door and left it to God's providence.
Ten years later, he met the woman again in a place he had never thought of. And then, he confessed his feelings for the woman and proposed again. Unlike ten years ago, when they coldly refused, the woman accepted the proposal and the two got married.
As such, believers who trust in God's providence must wait for God's time. When you are rejected, the road is blocked, or you are restricted by circumstances, you should quietly report the situation to God and ask God's will. If you go ahead with your own thoughts with a strong determination, you will not collide with the world, but with God.
After the Israelites were defeated in the battle of Ai, they wept to God, reported the situation, and asked God's will. When Paul was on his way to evangelism in Asia, the road was blocked, so he prayed to God. God made those who asked God's will understand the cause of defeat, road blockages, or restrictions through circumstances, and led them in God's way in God's time. However, King Saul, who was forced to pursue work with his own thoughts despite the roadblocks and the limitations of the environment, received the wrath of God and was eventually abandoned.
God moved Pharaoh's heart to oppress the Jews. He also prepared his sister Miriam and Pharaoh's daughter for Moses. Without this method, Moses could not have entered Pharaoh's palace as a prince, and there would have been no meeting with the Egyptian royal family. Also, contrary to Moses' intention, he made the push of an Egyptian official who beat his people to death. If this were not the case, would Moses ever live in the wilderness? Therefore, God's providence is not accidental, but inevitable.
The God who provided the life of Moses and worked and provided for all the people in the Bible is now working and providing in my life and yours. Therefore, our lives are not accidental, but inevitable. In other words, God is in control of all of your lives and me. No creature can escape from the providence of God.
President Alfonso of Guatemala was morbid to risk his own safety. He closed the windows facing the presidential palace unconditionally in a building within a 2km radius of the presidential residence. On the other hand, no one, except for the SS, was prohibited from entering his official residence with weapons. The doctor checked him three times a day, and nothing could be brought into the official residence without a strict preliminary inspection by the SS. Food could only be brought to his table after the inspector had tasted it.
That was not enough, so at the time, a bulletproof car for the president was custom-made with a huge sum of $1.5 million. This car was designed to withstand cannon fire and was known to be perfect for bodyguards.
But the next day, when I was very happy after taking over this bulletproof car, I was rushed to hell, which I didn't want to go to because of the sniping of a member of the SS, whom I usually trusted.
No matter how hard a person tries to protect his life, he cannot escape God's providence. It is said that the Lord provides even the life of a little sparrow. This is Matthew 10:29. “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? But not one of them shall fall to the ground unless your Father permits it.” Not only that, but even the grass of the field.
Then, we must live the best life without regrets while trusting God who is with us now. I pray that this life will continue until we reach heaven.