God’s Providence (Pasche)

"Cast all your care upon Him; for He careth for you." 1Peter 5:7.

We believe that God richly and daily provides us with all that we need to support this body and life. To generation after genera­ tion of the earth’s millions our bountiful Father has unlocked the larder of the earth, and has always richly provided for all of them. Day by day He grants us life and all the necessaries of life. Each one is obliged to say: “ The eyes of all wait upon Thee, and Thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest Thine hand and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.”

What prompts God to do all this, to provide for us daily and richly? When we survey God’s bounteous benefits, we cannot but acknowledge that we have received them purely out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy. We cannot but confess that it is purely His unmerited love which induces Him to place all His creatures at our disposal, giving us dominion over the fish of the sea, the fowl of the air, and every living thing that moveth upon the earth, and commanding the sun to give us light, the clouds to give us rain, the earth to yield its products for us. His love induces Him to provide us with all the necessaries of life, with clothing and shoes, with meat and drink, and with everything that we need for the support and want of the body. It is the love of Him who first loved us, who gives daily bread even to the wicked, who is good to all, and whose tender mercies are over all His works.

When we see this, we feel that we must not live unto ourselves. We say with the psalmist: “ What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?” And not only with our lips should we praise our kind Father in heaven, but also by cheerfully living a godly life according to His pleasure. What a lesson of Christian duty! What a lesson, too, of trust for Christian believers! And what a lesson, in all this, of submission and dependence on God!

 Prayer.

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, Thy mercies are new unto us every morning; and though we have in no wise deserved Thy goodness, Thou dost nevertheless abundantly provide for all our wants of body and soul. Grant us, we pray Thee, Thy Holy Spirit, that we may heartily acknowledge Thy merciful goodness toward us, give thanks for all Thy benefits, and serve Thee in wil­ ling obedience; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.