Present Providence
Have you ever been inspired by the amazing things that happened in answer to prayer in the Bible? Some great things were done, weren’t there?
· Joshua’s prayer made the sun stand still—for a whole day! (Josh. 10:12+)
· Elijah’s prayer brought a three and a half year drought on an impenitent nation, and then fire from heaven! (1 Kings 17:1 and Jas. 5:17,18; 18:37+)
· Elisha’s prayer made an entire army blind…! (2 Kings 6:8+)
· Hezekiah’s request made the sun go back 10 degrees in the sky—and called the attention of Babylonian royalty to Israel–and Israel’s God! (2 Kings 20)
· Nehemiah’s prayer effected the king’s permission for him to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city wall—which he did in 52 days flat! (Neh. 1:5+)
· The early church prayed and Peter escaped from prison the night before his execution! (Acts 12:1+)
It’s exciting to read those stories, but can you imagine having actually been there to have witnessed those things first hand? Can you imagine how the hosts of heaven—that rejoice when one soul repents—cheered when they witnessed God’s people triumph over their obstacles and their enemies?
It’s exhilarating to read those old stories—to think of what the Lord did for His people so long ago. The problem for many of us, however, is that when we read these stories, we don’t pick up on God’s perspective on them. Let me explain.
When we read the Bible stories for ourselves, or have them recounted to us in sermons, we get excited about what the Lord did for His people in the past—as I said before. However, as we go over these accounts of God’s acts in history, His eyes are not on the people we read about.
Take Joshua, for example. He’s dead. The people he served are dead. The people affected by the victories he won are dead. So are his enemies. In fact, everyone that knew Joshua (except Moses) is dead, including his children, and his children’s children. Not one of the people in Bible history survives on earth to this day! And heaven doesn’t spend its time in the past or on the dead.
You see, heaven is not impressed with what the Lord did 3,000 years ago. Now don’t get me wrong. Better than anyone else, heaven knows that the realities of today are directly linked to the acts of the Lord in the far distant past. (For example, if the Lord hadn’t taken measures to save humanity through Noah, the human race would have fallen beyond the hope of redemption some time shortly after Noah’s generation.) But no one in heaven is still shouting for triumphant joy because the Lord parted the Red Sea for the children of Israel. None of the angelic host are gathered around the spot where that most notable of miracles took place. Instead, their eyes are on us—watching to see what the Lord can do through us when we come under the inspiration of the miracles that He did for His people in the past, and reach out by faith for His help today.
The Bible is the record of God’s acts in history. It faithfully records what He has done for and through His people. However, there’s more to it than that. The Bible also reveals what the Lord is willing to do for and through His people. Do you see the difference?
Many of us read the Bible and think, “Wow! Those people must have been special. I mean, for the Lord to do for them what He did, they must have had some kind of record setting faith and righteousness!” But God Himself will set us straight on this point if we will let Him. In the book of James, the Lord tells us about one of His most amazing representatives, Elijah. He says: “…The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit,” (5:16-18).
In so many words, what the Lord is telling us is that Elijah was no different that we are. He “was a man subject to like passions as we are.” Yet, in spite of his humanity, God did great things through him. The point of this story, though, is not that God did great things through Elijah, but that He is willing to do great things through you—through me!
Some of us are more impressed with the answer to God’s promises than we are with His promises. We love to read about what God has done through those who believed Him. However, we don’t believe that He will do as much for us. So we bask in the sunshine of their loud victories while our own lives are stories of quiet defeat.
The great stories of the Bible were not written to impress us with what God did long ago. They were written for the sake of letting us know just how big the things are that He is able and willing to do through us today. Heaven rejoiced in the victories that God won through and for His people long ago, but heaven isn’t rejoicing over those things anymore. What heaven is doing now is looking to see what God can do through His believing people today. They are longingly looking to see what great things God can do through us! This is the very reason why these incredible stories are in the Bible—to inspire us to do as God’s triumphant people did long ago: to personally reach out after God by faith!
Listen, the Bible wasn’t given to us to be a dead book—a book that may be enjoyably read, but exerts no influence over the lives of those that read it. It was given to us in order to inspire us to connect with the God of heaven in the very same way that the triumphant people in it connected with Him—by faith through prayer.
We go into the Bible amazed at the size of what God has done. But what the Lord wants us to come away from the Bible with is excitement over the size of the promises God’s word holds for us. We are supposed to come away from the Bible more impressed with the power and potential of God’s promises than we are with the miracles He did for others! When this happens, the Bible won’t be a dead book for us any longer, but the beginning of an exciting life with God!
The world wasn’t the same after God’s people of old got a hold of God’s power through prayer. And neither will the world of today be the same place when we get a hold of God’s power through prayer! Are you up for the challenge? Are you willing to run the risk that God still keeps His promises today when His people pray?
Maybe you don’t need the sun to stand still, though. Maybe you or someone you love would be satisfied with a far less public answer to prayer—like simple recovery from cancer, or the salvation of your husband or wife, or son or daughter. I don’t know what it is that you need. I don’t know what your heart is longing for most of all. But I do know this, God is able and willing to help. He has demonstrated His power and His willingness to work on behalf of His people. So don’t hold back. Don’t say, “O, He did that for them, but He won’t do it for me.” Apply faith to your own life, like Elijah did to his, and you will see God work in your behalf!
No. We won’t always get what we want. But we will see God work in our lives. And He will give us strong reasons to believe—even if we don’t get what we want.
Sometimes God’s people have called on God’s providence more than at other times. But all of His power and ability are always available. So, when the demands of God’s people on His providence are low, the quotient of wasted potential is high! Don’t let this be the case in your life. Instead, put your faith in God, take Him at His word, and then behold what He will do in and through you!
Heaven is waiting for a people that believe that, for a people that will take on their obstacles and their enemies, because they are fully persuaded that if they pray, God’s power will fully back them up! Will you be one of them?