Review God's Providence

I attempted to preach a sermon Sunday from Genesis 50:19-20 entitled "How I Got Over". Joseph taught us that one of the first steps we need to take to is to Release Our Past; however, there are other steps we need to make. Another step we need to make is to Review God's Providence.

The elephant in the room, the unmentioned mentionable, the question that seems to hit the lips of society is when a tragedy hits, when bad things happen, where was/is God? I see it all the time and if you think about it, so do you! An earthquake happens, a mudslide in California takes place, a tsunami in the Orient strikes, a tornado falls in the Midwest and CNN, ABC, FOX NEWS will convene a panel with religious experts engaging in the field of Christian Apologetics trying to explain where was God and why did He allow this to happen?

The consensus of the public is either God does not exist or He does not care. If HE cares, HE is powerless to stop it because after all, bad things can only mean, GOD was not there. Joseph teaches us this concept is not true because he says if you want to know How I Got Over, all you have to do is Review God's Providence.

Without the systematic traditional theological Biblical survey language, Providence simply is "To Go Before" and "To see After". The story of Joseph suggests this is true and he begs us just to Review God's Providence. The phrase "The Lord was with Joseph" becomes a common thread woven through the tapestry of Joseph's testimony.

Even when he was sold he was still secure because God was with him. When he was with Potiphar, he still prospered because God was with him. In problems, he is still promoted because God is with him. While enduring fabrications and falsifications, God still shows favor by letting Joseph go to "The King's Prison". In prison, God is still with Joseph, when others forget, God remembers and in due season, Joseph is positioned in the place God has arraigned from the beginning because God will go before and see after.

When we Review our life, it is tempting to say God has forgotten about us. Death, loss of friends and family, pink slips and over draft notices can make you say Where is God? We mistakenly believe that "favor" is the absence of problems. God should stop the factory from shutting down. God should prevent my doctor from giving me a bad report on the MRI. God should stop my family member from dying but favor is not the absence of problems but rather it is the prosperity of God's children even through problems because GOD has gone before and seen after.

I am reviewing God's Providence. God was there when General Motors closed down on February 24, 2006. He went before and Saw after so on June 26, 2006, General Motors in Arlington, Texas offered me another job. I walked away as the assistant to the Pastor of the Greater Mount Olive Baptist Church on the fifth Sunday December 31st, 2006 but because God went before and saw after Easter Sunday Morning April 6th, 2008, I became the Pastor of the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church. When I walked away from the provisions and the protection of General Motors, The Lord has Gone before and Saw after and provided my buy-out parachute to allow me to work full-time as a Pastor.

As you read this blog, you may be tempted to think that 2010 was a bad year. You may think that God forgot you, abandoned you or left you all by yourself. I invite you to slow down, sit sown and write down all the bad things that happened in your life in 2010, I bet you will discover that God was there all the time.

Review God's Providence,

Owens

A Great Book on the Providence of God is by D. A. Carson, "The God Who Is There: Finding Your Place in God's Story", not systematic or theological but a character driven devotional walk through the Bible on the Providence of God. Good read.