We will never understand the providence of God—why He does things this way this time and other things that way at that time. How he works all things together for His ultimate glory. There are genuine questions that skeptics will ask regarding the providence of God, most notably how He can be a good and loving God while at the same time allowing so much evil and suffering in the world.
But think about the beauty of His providence. There have been so many instances in my life where the situation at the time made absolutely no sense—circumstances drastically changed or something went way different than expected—and I was left completely dumbfounded. For example, a few months ago the catalytic convertor was stolen from my wife’s car overnight, sitting where we parked it every night before then, resulting in a totaled vehicle and selling it off to insurance. This left my family having to shift to a one-car lifestyle with a 1 year old, and began the dreaded search for a new vehicle. In the moment it was unbelievably confusing and frustrating, leading to significant life changes with schedules and plans, specifically for my wife at home.
But today we found a new vehicle and it is a significant upgrade from what we had before: more space, fewer miles, newer year, and an easier transition in the future if God grants us more children. This gift would have never been given if our old car hadn’t been taken away. This is truly mysterious, and in many ways extremely simplistic I’m sure, but God’s hand has been guiding and leading our family this entire time, through both loss and gain.
We won’t fully understand it in this life, and will continue to learn the purposes of God throughout all of eternity, but it’s a beautiful picture of a loving Father who knows His children best, giving and taking what they need for their good and His glory.
Praise God that He is good forever and ever.
-PJH
