Sunday, March 27, 2005

 

 

Dear Family,

 

It is a disturbing thing to face uncertainty not knowing which way to turn or what to do to set our life on the path to reach the goals we have set for ourselves. It certainly causes us to ask, "What is the answer to my questions, doubts and fears?"  When we resolve that there is no answer, then we do not understand the providence of God. It is only when we understand the providence of God that we can accept the peaks and valleys which lay in life's path as we travel on this road of life.

 

Ezek 1:14-21

14 The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning.

15 As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces.

16 This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like chrysolite, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel.

17 As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not turn about as the creatures went.

18 Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.

19 When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose.

20 Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

21 When the creatures moved, they also moved; when the creatures stood still, they also stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. (NIV)

 

Ezekiel found himself in a vision where he saw four angels and a wheel beside each. As a reader we sometimes just pass these words off as another vision of another prophet but close examination gives us great insight into the providence of God.  This vision is described by C. H. Spurgeon in a sermon published October 15^th 1908.

 

"When the prophet had seen the "living creatures," which I take it were angels, he opened his eyes again, and he saw a wonderful illustration of the divine Providence, and this exhibition was in the figure of a wheel. You must know that this is not the only place where the comparison is to be found; for among the classics, the Romans and the Greeks were accustomed to compare the wondrous works of God in Providence to a wheel. The story goes, that a certain king being taken prisoner, was bound in chains, and dragged along at the chariot wheels of his conqueror. As he went along, he kept looking at the wheel, and shedding tears—looking at the wheel again, and lifting up his eyes and smiling. The conqueror turned and said, "Wherefore art thou looking at that wheel?" He said, "I was thinking, such is the lot of man; just now I was here; now I am there; but soon I may be here again at the top of the wheel, and thou mayest be grinding the dust." This was well for a heathen. The prophet had the very same idea. He was permitted by God to see that the wheel is a very beautiful figure of divine Providence.

 

Our lives are filled with peaks and valleys. Like a man tied to a wheel, one day we seem to be on top of the world with our total life exactly the way we want and expect it to be and the next thing we know life is upside down and everything is in disarray, out of focus and we are left wondering why. Well there is an answer and the answer is in the doctrine of the providence of God.

 

God put each of us on this earth for a reason and a purpose. Our greatest accomplishment in life comes when we discover why God has put us here. We then began to move through life doing those things He created us to do. His purpose has never been to bring glory and honor to us but rather to Himself. We were created to be a part of His plan for the ages.  When we bring glory and honor to God, He always returns some of that glory to us. Our greatest moments are when we accomplish His purpose. It is when we struggle to gain riches and glory for ourselves that we come in conflict with God's will. He then has to create circumstances to get us back to where He wants us to be. When we seek to be where he wants us, then He makes our path clearer.

 

God has promised to give each of us the desire of our heart if we do what? Seek Him first and seek to bring glory and honor to Him.  Life on this earth is not about me, it is about Him. We just get confused. Our life is full and overflowing when we are bringing Glory and honor to Him in whatever we do. It is when we want to be the center of attention that we come in conflict with God. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be accepted by our peers nor is there anything wrong with being proud of our accomplishments. The problem comes when we want to take credit for it all.

 

So what is your purpose in life and where do you fit? Do you know? If you do not know what your purpose and place in life are, then let me give you a hint as to how to discover them. Do not be surprised if it is doing what you are doing now and right where you are doing it. It just might mean changing your attitude. It might be that you simply need to look at it from God's point of view and see how you can serve Him and bring glory to Him right where you are. If it is impossible to include Him, then you need to change. Here is another tip. What are your talents and what do you do really well? How can you use your talents to bring glory to God and serve mankind today? Find someone who is in need today and use your talent and skills to serve that person without the expectation of reward to yourself. When they thank you, simply tell them, "don't thank me, thank God for letting me be here for you".

 

Love,

 

Dad