“Again, I saw that under the
sun the race is not to the swift, nor
riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but
time and chance happen to them all.” (Eccl. 9:11 ESV)
On my last Wednesday
evening Bible study class we touched upon a subject that I’ve always found
interesting, mainly because I feel it to be many times misunderstood and/or
misapplied. I’m referring to the word “providence” as in the “providence
of God.” Preparatory to my next class, I thought that I’d talk a little
this morning on that topic and thus provide a little heads-up, so to speak.
Plus, a couple of things
occurred in mine and my wife’s lives this past few days that also provide me a
little impetus on the subject. She had her knee operated
(arthroscopically) and I underwent a CT scan. A first for both of
us. The reason that I see these events tying into our lesson here is
because I believe the doctors that we have, with their wonderful skills, and
the technical machinery available today, such as the CT scanners and MRI’s, are
just evidence of God’s “providence” bestowed upon His creation, earth.
Have you ever noticed
that when the word “providence” is used it is always in a positive or a good
sense. When we think of something occurring “providentially” it’s
always a good happening, isn’t it? Even the dictionary defines it in that
way. The first definition of the word is: “the foreseeing care and
guardianship of God over His creatures.”
Now, does this mean that
God, in a miraculous way, alters nature or events so that good things
happen? I’m not persuaded that God “meddles,” if that’s the appropriate
word, in the general affairs of man in that He causes them to happen or not
happen. Let me explain myself a bit further on this.
First let me direct your
attention to the passage we find in Psalm 115:16 where it reads: “The heaven, even the heavens, are the
Lord’s: but the earth hath He given to the children of men.”
Yes, God created this earth and everything associated with it and gave it to
mankind. This includes all the forces of nature that work in and on the
earth. To me, this explains why “the
rain is sent on the just and the unjust.” (Matt. 5:45).
Therefore it’s my
opinion, and I stress the word opinion, that the “providence of God” has
already been given to us in all of the beautiful, wonderful and blessed forces
and all things associated with His creation of everything. That by His
creation, He set in motion the natural forces that we see working in our
lives. And that includes both the good and the bad. Thus, as we’ve
seen in Matthew and Ecclesiastes, we are all subject to the same forces of
nature, IE: “time and chance.”
We hear stories all the
time about someone having just missed being killed or injured by the occurrence
of an accident or some natural phenomenon and, invariably, it’s stated “it’s
the providence of God.” And remember, the results always seem to have
happened in a “good” way so therefore God must have intervened and saved
them. If that were true, then what do we say to people when some DON’T
escape some tragedy? That they were being punished by God? I think
not.
The way that I
understand it is this - that God “providentially” provided us with everything
related to life on this earth and that, due to some action taken by a person,
something having either a good or bad result comes from that action. In
other words, because of an action taken (or not taken), something that man
calls “providence” occurs. By the way we live or conduct ourselves in a
lot of ways precludes many “bad” things happening to us. Thus we reap the
“providence of God” all the time and probably don’t even think of it that way.
Well, just what kind of
actions am I speaking of? As I’ve already said, by conducting ourselves
in certain manners, we do not put ourselves in harms’ way. But also, it
may be just a simple action of deciding to turn on a particular street, or
depart somewhere at another time and thereby avoid being involved in some
tragic accident. How about those people who for one reason or another
missed their flight and the plane crashed? Just remember Solomon’s words:
“time and chance happens to
all.”
But, I’m also aware that
man’s actions can set in motion a string of events that seem to defy the
thinking ability of our finite minds. Even one little alteration during
that chain of events can totally change the outcome, can’t it? Instead of
the result being of a “providential nature,” it can become one of a tragic
nature. What I’m saying is, that things “down the line” can be
completely changed by “time
and chance.”
To help explain what I
just said, I’m going to use the last portion of my space here and relate to you
a little story that I believe illustrates it quite well. And, it also
involves the medical field of which I made mention of at the onset of this lesson.
It is a true story and I believe that it is applicable to our thoughts on the
“providence of God.”
In the late 1930's, just
prior to the start of WW2, there was a young man from Poland who was living and
working in Austria as a flight instructor for a flying club. When Hitler
“annexed” Austria the young pilot decided that war was inevitable so he quit
his job, took his airplane and started back home to Poland.
While en route, the
plane developed some mechanical problems and he was forced to land at Vienna
and remain overnight while repairs were being made. He was just leaving
his hotel the next morning ro make some purchases when a man ran through the
front door, bumping into the young pilot and sending him reeling. He
grabbed the man and was about to “let him have it” when he noticed that the
man’s face was stricken with fear. The man kept trying to get loose and
kept saying “Gestapo, Gestapo.” The pilot didn’t speak much German, but
he did know who the Gestapo were - Hitler’s secret police agents.
So, instead of lashing
out at the man, he took him upstairs to his room and had him get under the bed
covers then took off most of his own clothes, making it appear that he had just
got out of bed himself. The Gestapo did come to his room, demanded to see
his passport and questioned him, but left without searching the room.
When the man came out
from hiding he tried to talk to the pilot but, since he only spoke German, they
had trouble communicating. But, the pilot did understand that the man was
a Jew and this even makes the story more interesting because, back in Poland,
he didn’t like the Jews and he even belonged to an anti-Semitic
organization. But, there was no misunderstanding the man’s gratitude.
The pilot managed to
convey to the man that he had an airplane that could take him out of Austria,
but would have to land somewhere in a meadow to drop him off as he couldn’t
take the chance of landing at an airport with him. He managed to get him
to the airport and told customs that he was just there to see him off and when
the plane was running and ready to go, the man jumped in and they left.
Once in Poland, he
landed in a large field, let the man out and gave him directions, plus some
money and the man shook his hand and walked off into the woods. When he
flew on to the airport he was met by an Inspector who accused him of helping
some escape from Austria and demanded to search his plane. The pilot
said, “Go ahead, and by the way, what was the person wanted for?” The
Inspector said, “For being a Jew.” Since there was no one on the plane,
they let him go.
The war came and the
young pilot joined the Polish Air Force which didn’t last very long against the
Germans. He was captured by the Germans, but escaped to France and then
later to England where he joined the Royal Air Force, fighting in the Battle of
Britain. In one air battle he collided with a German airplane and
sustained some major damage and injuries. Half-blinded by blood, he
managed to fly back across the channel and crash-landed his plane near a
hospital then passed out. One of his injuries was a skull fracture and
the chief surgeon at the hospital believed that it was severe enough that it
would be useless to operate.
Later, when the pilot
regained consciousness, he realized that a man was standing by his bed looking
down on him. The man asked, “Remember me? You saved my life in
Vienna. The pilot asked him how he had found him and, noticing his white
coat, asked if he worked there? The man then said this to the
pilot:
“After you dropped me
off, I made it to Warsaw and, helped by friends, escaped out of Poland and made
it to Scotland. When you showed me your map in Vienna I noted your name
was written on the edge of it. I read about some Polish pilots flying for
England so I wrote the Air Ministry and found out that you were here.
Yesterday I read that a Polish hero had shot down 5 German planes in one day
and then had to crash-land near this hospital. It said that your condition
was considered hopeless. I thought that it might be you so I asked the
Royal Air Force at Edinburgh to fly me here. The pilot asked the man,
“Why?” The man replied, “I thought that at last I could do something to
show my gratitude. You see, I am a brain surgeon - I operated on you this
morning.”
In closing, just let me
remind you of our “chain of events,” brought on my our actions and the words of
Solomon - “time and chance
happens to us all.”
Respectfully submitted,
Ron Covey
No comments:
Post a Comment