Well Isn't that Providential?

 

Scripture

2 Kings 5:1-5

 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from a skin disease. ² Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. ³ She said to her mistress, “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his skin disease.” ⁴ So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. ⁵ And the king of Aram said, “Go, then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.”  (NRSVUE)

 

Devotion

 I'm often struck by the ways God's Providence is at work in my community.  How is it that God arranged to lead someone to randomly show up at the perfect place and time to do Christ's work?  Why did God decide that this person was just the one to offer what that person just what they needed...and what did the Holy Spirit do to inspire those perfect strangers to strike up a conversation in the first place?  What was it that led God to put that book in my hand mere hours before its expertise would prove extremely relevant to my ministry?

Naaman's story has the same kind of situation.  How is that his wife's slave would have the knowledge of someone who could cure him of his disease?   And how is it that she would be in the position to share this information...and what inspired him--the commander of Aram's army--would take a foreign servant's words seriously?   And how could anyone have possibly expected that this small piece of advice given by an unnamed servant could help an entire nation come to know and respect the power of the God of Israel?  Surely this must be God's Providence at work!

In his Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin calls Providence God's way of exercising "care of governing and guiding all creatures for the salvation of His own" (451).  Providence, in other words, is the way that God's sustains us and guides our destiny.  Such divine guidance may be subtle or overt.  It may seem like a natural development or our daily lives, or it may come like a bolt out of the blue, but we can trust that it is always for our good.  

The Providential moments that Christ weaves into our lives are everyday miracles.  We do not know why or how God chose to make them happen, but we can trust that they are part of God's good plans for us all.  The parts we are called to play might seem small in the moment, but each one is an important component in God's good plans for the world.  And nothing is more humbling than to realize that the Holy Spirit is working in our everyday lives in order to govern and guide God's own towards salvation.

Calvin writes that the greatest misery we can have is not know God's Providence, while one of our greatest blessings is to know it well. (455) So let us keep an eye out for signs of God's Providence at work among us.  When we notice it, let us give thanks for it.  For God's will is brought about through holy coincidences and everyday miracles that take place all around us... and we all have our humble parts to play in God's Providential plans.

 

Prayer

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for allowing God's Providence to be at work in my life.  May I notice that Providence at work and always be willing to do my part as Christ works in, through, and around me for the salvation of God's own.  Amen.

 

Works Cited

 Calvin, Jean.  Institutes of the Christian Religion: 1541 French Edition  Trans. Elsie Anne McKee.  Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009.