Don’t you love God stories…you know, the moments only God could have orchestrated. As in, there is absolutely no logical explanation other than God worked an amazing miracle!  When your car fails and you are able to get off the highway before it completely breaks down. When you randomly have a conversation with an acquaintance about an online high school homeschooling program right when you are thinking of switching away from traditional schooling. When you go to the orthopedist for a routine check up. Your crooked spine is expected to stay the same, or get worse; but the x-ray shows that your spine got a little better. When you email out your resumė to Presbyterian and non-denominational churches who do not list a worship leader on their website. One pastor emails back and says that RiverTree is in the early stages of discussing having a worship position and would love to meet up and talk.  

   What if we viewed all of life in that lens? What if we recognized and praised God for His involvement in all that happens. To do so, we have to remember God’s providence and sovereignty. Everything in our lives happens under God’s providence and sovereignty. What exactly does that mean? Let’s go over some of the basics. 

   God’s sovereignty and providence means that God upholds, preserves, sustains, governs, orders, and causes all things. He did not set the world in motion and then step back and let things happen randomly by chance. He is actively involved in all things. God’s active involvement, God’s providence, is anchored in His eternal plan for His glory and the good of His people. God never responds to things on the fly, because nothing surprises Him or catches Him off guard. So, God’s sovereignty is more than just Him knowing what’s going to happen in advance. He not only knows, but He wills and causes what will happen in the future. That includes creation, good things, bad things…it includes everything. That can be hard to wrap our minds around, so let’s break it down. God’s providence includes all spheres of life. Let’s explore that. Let’s start with creation as a whole and work our way down to human sin and salvation. 

   Throughout the Bible, especially in the Psalms, we see that God Himself makes a blade of grass grow, causes snow to fall, and sends wind throughout the earth. His sovereignty extends to sustaining the smallest molecule. So every drop of rain, every breath-taking sunset, every crashing wave is governed by God. 

   God’s sovereignty goes well beyond the realm of creation. His sovereignty permeates all life events, all human decisions. Nothing, past, present, or future is outside of God’s providence. We don’t often think like this. So let it soak in. Every nation, every person, every human action, and even every sin falls under His sovereignty. How can that be? There is a way in which God is the primary and first cause of everything while, at the same time, God nevers sins and does not tempt people, and humans are still morally responsible beings who make choices. This is a mystery that we as finite people will never fully understand. Even theologians have a hard time putting this Biblical truth into words. I think Joseph said it best in Genesis, “As for you (his brothers) you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” So even in the midst of human sin and human decisions God is working behind the scenes to accomplish His great purposes. Think of Jesus’ crucifixion. Men abused Him and sentenced Him to a criminal’s death on the cross. Yet it was God’s eternal purpose from before time began that Jesus would be our sacrifice and pay the price for our sins through His death. This is God’s providence writing history.  

   God in His sovereignty also orchestrates our salvation. We often like to give ourselves credit for our salvation. But we can’t. Salvation is 100% God’s sovereign work from start to finish. He specifically chose a people whom He would rescue from their sin. He makes sure they hear the gospel. He changes their hearts to give them new life. He enables them and causes them to respond in faith to His Son. As Scripture says, For it is by grace that we are saved, it’s not our own doing it’s a gift of God. So our salvation is a God moment, our response to Jesus is God’s providential work in our lives to bring about His desired outcome.

   Why talk about providence and how we think about our life experience? Because it helps us with anxiety. God’s providence is a great comfort for us. Nothing is outside of his control. If something were not under God’s control, then God would not be God. Then something would be greater than God. But that is not the God of the Bible. That is not the God we serve and worship. Our God is all powerful, all knowing and fully sovereign. So, we know that God is working out all things for the good of His chosen children who love Him. We can trust that He is providing the best thing for us at any moment. 

   That is true of our trials as well. Jesus tells us that in this world we will have troubles. Being a Christian does not exempt you from problems. We live in a fallen broken world where evil and Satan seem to win. But we know that all evil and even Satan himself is fully under God’s control. When troubles happen, we know God governs their duration; He knows how they will help us grow to be more like Christ and He will stop them at the right time. Sometimes we see the results in this life; other times God will sustain and provide for us through an ongoing trial until we reach heaven where all troubles disappear. We know God cares about our hurts and pains. He will be our source of hope and surround us with His eternal love. In the midst of our hardships we can trust that He is painting a bigger and better picture than we can ever imagine. 

Okay, we are going to take a trip back to first grade for a grammar lesson. Verbs…they describe actions. That seems simple enough; in fact we use verbs constantly everyday without thinking about it. But now I want to challenge you to think about verbs….God’s verbs. God always has, always is, and always will act. God did not create the world, set it in motion, and then stand back and watch things unfold. Quite the opposite. God acts. God acts in time. He acts in human history all of the time. There is not one sphere of life, one activity you can do where God in his providence is not acting or working. Let’s walk through some Bible verses and see just how God acts in salvation, real human decisions, and creation.

SALVATION

God’s Saving Work in Israel

Acts 13:16-33 God…chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm He led them out…He put up with them in the wilderness….He gave them their land as an inheritance…. He raised up David to be their king, …this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as He promised. He has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus.

God’s Action in Saving People from Start to Finish

Ephesians 1:4-5 He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world…He predestined us for adoption 

Titus 3:5  He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to hHs own mercy,

Romans 8:29-30 For those whom He foreknew He also predestined…And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.

God’s Action in Believers Good Works

Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Philippians 1:6 And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you, [He] will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Ezekiel 11:19-20 I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.  Then [because of God’s action] they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 

HUMAN ACTIONS

God’s Action Over and Through Real Human Decisions

Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

Daniel 4:35 He does according to His will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay His hand or say to Him, “What have you done?”

Ezra 1:1 The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom  

Psalm 23:2-3 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

God’s Actions Over Kings and Kingdoms

Romans 9:17 Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you”

Isaiah 45:13 I have stirred [Cyrus the King] up in righteousness and I will make all his ways level; he shall build my city and set my exiles free,

Proverbs 21:1 The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord;  He turns it wherever He will.

CREATION

God’s Action in Creating and Sustaining Every Molecule in the Universe

Psalm 147:8-9 He covers the heavens with clouds; He prepares rain for the earth;  He makes grass grow on the hills. He gives to the beasts their food,

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth

Hebrew 1:3 He upholds the universe by the word of his power. 

Nehemiah 9:6 You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and You preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.

Isaiah 45:7 I form light and create darkness;  I make well-being and create calamity;

Wow, that really is an eye-opener. In those few verses, there were 55 God verbs. God always purposefully acts for the sake of His glory and the good of His people. So, I challenge you… as you do your Bible reading, don’t mindlessly look at the verbs. Revisit first grade. Look for the God verbs and let your heart fill with awe and praise as you see how God is always in action.

But how do we do this? How do we practically apply such a profound concept that our finite brains cannot possibly fully comprehend? Maybe, we simply start with stillness. Maybe, we intentionally set aside time to hear from our Creator and Savior. And perhaps, by setting our agenda aside, we can intentionally allow room for the one who deserves our all.

But what if we don’t stop there? And instead, we live given. Because if we live with walls to block out inevitable pain and discomfort that we all are all too familiar with, all the love that is trying to get in will be blocked out as well. Maybe, we admit our brokenness. We need to first admit this to ourselves. And then, take it immediately to our Savior. And maybe then we can be brave enough to admit our brokenness to each other. Because, what every broken heart needs is to break down its self-protecting walls. What every one of us broken beings needs is to be vulnerable enough to share its brokenness. You will see as much healing in your life as you let people see the brokenness in your life. You are as healable as you are vulnerable.

Perhaps, this Easter season we can do it differently. Perhaps we can reflect on what our Savior has done for us through our intentional vulnerability as we live given.

   These parties can be large group gatherings or they can be as simple as you meeting with someone one on one. There is no fixed mold. Do something you love to do.  But, remember we need to be intentional about this. Put something on your calendar. Schedule a “party” before life pulls you a million different ways. Keep in mind one last thing: don’t lose sight of God in the process. Don’t have a party just to have a party. Have a party with a purpose. Have a party for His glory. 

Matthew 13 focuses primarily on Jesus teaching the people through the use of parables. A total of four parables are presented in this chapter. However, right in the middle of this section, there is a small excursus on why Jesus uses parables at all (vv.10-17). In simplest terms, Jesus says that he uses parables to fulfill the prophecy from Isaiah “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.”

This explanation, when taken in isolation, feels callous. It paints Jesus as someone intentionally trying to hide his message. As someone seemingly trying to mislead people. However, I do not believe this is the intent of this explanation or of Jesus’ fondness of parables in the first place. At the most basic level, what is a parable? It is a morality tale. It is a story told to impart a message of right and wrong or of good and evil. Perhaps, the best analogous modern example are fairy-tales and fables. What does the story of the tortoise and the hare tell us? That pride can be the downfall of the powerful. What about Hansel and Gretel? That greed and gluttony will harm you in the end.

Stories like these are how we take hard to understand and high concept ideas and make them more palatable for children. I believe that Jesus is doing the same thing with his use of parables. He is taking concepts that might be difficult to understand and putting them in terms and situations that virtually everyone around him could understand. He is making it as easy as possible for people to hear and understand his message.

With this idea in mind, then his explanation of why he uses parables shifts slightly. Now, his use of parables does not come off as an attempt to confuse people into ‘hearing but never understanding’ but rather as an earnest attempt to make his message easy to grasp. By using parables,  Jesus is trying to cast as wide a net as possible, to help as many people as possible understand his message of salvation. This understanding then puts the Isaiah quote in a different context. It becomes less a stance on Jesus gatekeeping and more a disheartened plea for people to just simply open up their hearts and hear the words that Jesus is saying.

Jesus uses parables to give us as much information as possible, in a way we can most easily understand. It is Jesus taking the theologically rich topics of salvation, faith, atonement, and divine judgment and framing them so that they make sense and are easy to remember. It is Jesus’ way of making sure that as few people as possible fall into the camp of those who ‘hear but never perceive.’ 

But today, let’s zoom in on something specific within this passage. Take a look at verse 15. When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

The shepherds who maintained a humble posture and kept their hearts open regardless of their lowly circumstances, received the first birth announcement of the long-awaited Savior, the Messiah!

And when the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger.

The Shepherds didn’t hesitate, and they immediately and obediently went. They heard a message from God. They received the message from God. And they acted on that message from God!

The supernatural angelic concert had concluded. The singers had disappeared in the deep silence from where they had come. The shepherds, gathering up their scattered thoughts, said one to another (as if their hearts were speaking all at once and all in unison), “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” The response was immediate! They do not shut out this heavenly truth by doubt and vain questioning. And neither do they keep it at a distance. No, they yield themselves up to it completely and entirely. And we have to wonder, as they immediately made their way to Bethlehem, in the quick step and in the rapid beating of their hearts, could one trace the vibrations of the angel-song? These shepherds are ready with such a perfect acceptance. Their hearts are practically leaping forward to meet and embrace this Gospel, and the Son of the God of the angels.

Do we have the same obedience to the extraordinary call that God calls us to? Do we expect to hear from God regularly? Even Frequently?  Do we have the courage to seek and expect the extraordinary?

May we find within us hearts like shepherds and voices like angels.  May we surrender to the beauty and glory of God born in a manger.  See how God loves us!