PC3 Devotions

“…He (God) sustains the universe (as He once founded it) by His boundless might, regulates it by His wisdom, preserves it by His goodness…bears with it in His mercy, and watches over it by His protection.” –John Calvin

Psalm 50:1

1 The Mighty One, God, the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to where it sets.

Psalm 46:1

1 God is our refuge and strength, an EVER-PRESENT help in trouble.

Isaiah 41:10

10 So do not fear, for I AM WITH YOU; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Deuteronomy 4:7

7 What other nation is so great as to have their gods NEAR them the way the LORD our God is NEAR us whenever we pray to him?

God, where are you? Are you there? Do you even care what is going on with me? If you loved me, how could you let this happen? These are just a few of the questions we ask when God feels a million miles away. In these moments of perceived distance, we let our experiences shape our theology and belief about the unchanging characteristics of God.

Instead of relying in the God who revealed Himself in Scripture, we often trust what we see and experience. This puts us on a shaky foundation. It would be very easy to perceive God as one who took a step back after creation and just watches everything unfold from a distance. This is only a hop, skip and jump away from saying, “God is not here…and if he is, he certainly doesn’t care. He won’t help us.”

The perceived lack of God’s involvement in our lives also opens up the door to feelings of insignificance, worthlessness and doubt. We wrestle with why God moves and speaks to other people, but doesn’t seem close to us. We reason that this must be due to our lack of value in His eyes. This can be nowhere further from the truth.

God’s providence is our provision. Providence simply describes the ongoing power of God to sustain, guide, govern and care for His creation. Author and theologian RC Sproul says “the doctrine of providence declares that God’s providential rule extends to all things great and small, from the huge to the minute, the infinite to the infinitesimal.” This teaches that Christians are never in the grip of blind forces like fortune, chance, luck or fate.

Each event that comes your way is a new opportunity to trust, obey and rejoice; knowing that all that happens to you is for your spiritual and eternal God. Sadly, we often fail to recognize His working because we tend to define it too narrowly. There is no denying God being involved in miracles like surviving a devastating car crash or a tumor disappearing after prayer. However, if these big events are our only definition of God’s providence, we will miss much of His providential working.

God cares for us and shows it all the time by His working in our lives. You getting up this morning is an act of God’s providence. Taking your last breath is an proof of God’s providence. But because God is invisible to us, we often fail to recognize His active presence in our lives. God is not only actively involved in our lives, He is also intimately involved. God’s providence is our provision and if we believe in God’s provision, then we can trust Him with our needs.

When we rightly view providence, our perspective changes. We begin to see His mercy and grace everywhere as He moves through secondary means to care for us. You may think that what you do is not that important in light of eternity, but providence says otherwise. Your work matters to God because He is at work often through your work. You can be the catalyst of God’s providence in the life of another. If we believe God’s providence, we are aware of God’s activity. Once we are aware, we can respond.

Our response should be one of gratitude. When our understanding of God is accurate, we can Him as the great and all-powerful God who cares for us through His continued exercise of His power, mercy, grace and love. He is greater than we know and closer than we imagine.

God, thank you for always being with me, even in those moments where I wonder where you are. You move in my life in so many ways I fail to see. May I be more aware of your providence so that I can respond and trust you with all my needs. Amen.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Psalm 78:1-7

¹ My people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth.
² I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old— ³ things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us.
⁴ We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done.
⁵ He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children, ⁶ so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.
⁷ Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.

Just the other day my family grabbed some hot chocolate and took a stroll on Wrightsville Beach. As my wife and I talked, our two little girls played ahead of us. We noticed our youngest beginning to tiptoe. She was particularly careful with every step she took. With our curiosity peaked, we asked her what she was doing. She replied, “Daddy, I’m trying to walk without leaving a foot print.” We both smiled and tried to explain the impossible task before her. No matter where she stepped she was bound to leave a mark behind.

This encounter with my daughter seems fitting as we close our series on marriage. Over the course of the past six weeks, we’ve attempted to answer the question: “marriage….why bother?” This question has challenged each one of us in different ways. But, our response to the question, no matter what situation we might be in, is the same. We bother with marriage for the sake of the generation to come.

Whether we realize it or not, each one of us leaves a mark on this world. You will leave a legacy so leave it on purpose. Marriage provides the foundation for the stewardship of the authority we’ve been given to impact future generations for Christ. Both men and women have unique roles in which God is seen and understood by the next generation.

Why bother with marriage? If we don’t, the next generation will be left without hope. We bother because we were created to reflect the glory of God. We were made to accurately portray the image of God’s overwhelming love. We were created to intentionally leverage the influence of God’s character. It is God’s love for you that should compel and empowers you to love.

So we must pause and reflect. What messages do our actions and words speak about the importance, or the lack thereof, of God to the next generation? What legacy are we leaving behind for them? Will they know of the greatness of God as well as his amazing grace?  Will their lives and future marriages be impacted by it or will their lack of guidance lead them to walk through life relying solely on their own wisdom? What blueprint are you sketching out for your family and spouse? What foundations are you building now for what lies in the future?

For those of you that do not have children or are not married, you have a unique advantage.  You have the opportunity to think about marriage and family in a new way, establishing a set of core values in regards to the marriage relationship and family structure, and enter into these with a new hope and deeper understanding of, not only marriage and children, but of the character of God.

We are charged to impress the commands of God upon the next generation and leave them the tools and the culture necessary to reveal God’s image in their generation. This should have massive implications on us as church as well as our marriages and families. It is so important that we understand legacy as an issue of stewardship, as something we are given.  It is not ours to generate, but rather to steward in the direction of God’s promise. It is our prayer that the church would no longer damage the next generation, but that our community would take recapturing and redeeming marriage and families seriously.

God help me to see that marriage is so much bigger than my needs or my happiness. Enable me to understand how marriage is about legacy and influence. May I lay my marriage before you so you can use it to bring you glory. Amen.