Minor Providences of God
Providence: prudence, foresight, forethought, farsightedness, judiciousness, shrewdness, circumspection, wisdom, sagacity, common sense, thrift, economy. All of these things are derived from the properties and attributes of God.
Providence is derived from the word “provide,” coming from the Latin providere meaning “forsee, attend to,” from pro – “before” and videre – “to see.” This is a concept that comes from the property the Creator God possesses; foreknowledge. God is the primary provider for every one of His creatures. God has provided everything every one of His creatures needs and is abundantly able and willing to bless amply more.
He is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. He is love and just therefore he is able to give all He has promised and has the will (the determination) to do it. There is one more thing that needs to be stated; He is truth and purity. Unlike all of His detractors among humankind; He is of such pure eyes (for want of a better illustration) that he is unable to look upon transgression of His properties and attributes and is obliged to destroy transgressors on sight.
His proof of all these properties and attributes is that he has decreed a means for those who transgress grace to receive the gift of redemption if they will choose it. That is if they will acknowledge transgression through confession and repentance, to them He has provided “a way to escape” and be forgiven; to be reconciled to Himself. Since He is perfect in all His aspects and condescends to make this possible, He is over and transcendent above all His creation and rightly so.
His creation owes Him while He – on the other hand – owes it nothing. Therefore it is incumbent upon them to acknowledge they have a duty of offering gifts of awe, wonder, praise and thanksgiving. These cost the creature nothing of real value and everyone has the ability to offer them freely. He also requires a tithe, the tenth portion, the first of the harvest, or the wealth he bestows upon all men. This tithe, as well, goes toward expanding the proclamation of Himself to those who may not have heard of Him. Because He alone is worthy of these offerings. It is His due and our duty to respond.
Often a Christian attempts to become a source of providence or provision for his fellow man. This robs them of growth, which is a blessing in the Spirit, and doing so commits a grave error. We do see in scripture, as is the case with Moses and Aaron, where he (Moses) was a go-between with God for his brother Aaron:
“Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.
And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who makes the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.
And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.
And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he sees thee, he will be glad in his heart. And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God. And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs” (Exodus 4:10-17).
A Christian may exhort, encourage, instruct and become a prayer partner. They may make an interested listener with other Christians, but one is not advised to take on any greater responsibility; because you have not been given authority to become a “minor” providential source for another. You are not equipped to handle it. There are very few that have been vested with that authority. Under New Testament economy, each of us has the Holy Spirit (comforter) imparted at rebirth (or the birth of the Spirit) for instruction in holiness and growth in the Spirit.
We are not given authority to be as Moses was to Aaron; that is the work of the Holy Spirit through personal study of scripture, prayer, meditation and fasting. Each of us is alike in many ways but each one of us is “a thought in the mind of God;” each has been given talents and a calling by the same Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 12:4-14). We are each to go, witness to the grace of God, teach and some are to preach the Word. None of us has authority to presume upon the dispensing of the providence of God. On the contrary we are to give God glory, praise and thanksgiving in humility for his gifts of grace.
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