Jul 21, 2024
Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 16:5-11
As Paul writes about his plans to visit his friends in Corinth, he drops a phrase into his sentence which reveals something of his perspective of life. The phrase is "if the Lord permits." "For I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits" (1 Cor 16:7).
The apostle realizes that everything rests on the will of God. This is the clear, repeated truth revealed to us in the Bible.
"The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD" (Prov 16:1).
"The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps" (Prov 16:9).
"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but the counsel of the LORD, it will stand" (Prov 19:21).
At every moment of every day, God is actively permitting plans to go forward, or preventing plans from coming to pass. In this way God governs everything that takes place in His universe … in order to accomplish His own purposes.
Question #15 in the Baptist Catechism of 1689 is "What is the providence of God?" The answer given is "The providence of God is His most holy, wise, powerful activity by which He preserves and governs every creature and every action."
We must learn to defer completely and humbly to the will of God with the realization that He sovereignly and totally governs everything in His universe. With the sovereignty of God washing over our souls and with the brevity of life ringing in our ears, we are more prone to live life humbly, diligently, and skewed more toward heavenly, eternal realities rather than earthly, temporal vapors.