We sang this John Newton hymn Sunday morning. It's one of my favorites and I'm always gladdened by the line at the end of each verse: "the LORD will provide."
Another sort of God's provision came to mind this Sunday. I had just read the book of Jonah. Four times we see that "God provided" (in the NIV translation, at least). Everyone is familiar with God's provision of a "great fish." Salvation, in other words, though not exactly by a method that Jonah might have chosen.
The other three times occur in the fourth chapter where God provided: (a) a vine (to shade Jonah's big ole head), (b) a worm (to cut the vine down!) and (c) "a scorching east wind" (apparently to heat Jonah up a bit more than he already was; to whatever temperature "mad enough to die[verse 9] is).
I love God's provision for my physical needs (so did Jonah). Every day I have cause for amazement and gratitude.
It's God's providing for my faith and spiritual growth that sometimes cause me to cop a bad attitude (like Jonah).
You'd think Newton would have warned us that the troubles that assail us are also of God's providing and we need to be thankful about those things too.
Oh wait! The Bible already does that, huh?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Newton was a great hymn writer.
ReplyDelete