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AUGUST: Knowing and Serving God

August 25

PROVIDENCE

He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
Job 12:24

What exactly do we mean by providence? I cannot think of a better definition or description than this: "Providence is that continued exercise of the divine energy whereby the Creator upholds all His creatures, is operative in all that transpires in the world, and directs all things to their appointed end."

Notice how Psalm 104 puts it in verses 28-30: "That thou givest them [animals of the earth] they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good. Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth." Now God does not create these animals of the earth constantly. What He does is to keep life, to preserve what He has already created.

We are also told that God's providence is exercised over the affairs of nations. You will find that in Job 12:24: "He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way."

We are also told that God providentially governs a man's birth and his lot in this world. We read in 1 Samuel 16:1, "And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel" Fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons." And Paul says about himself in Galatians 1:15-16, "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen...."

A Thought to Ponder
The Creator is operative in all that transpires in the world and directs all things to their appointed end.

From God the Father, God the Son, pp. 143-144, 147.



Today’s devo is taken from Walking with God Day by Day © 2003 by Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

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