The  Lord  is my  shepherd; I shall not  want. He makes me lie down in green  pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He  restores my soul. He  leads me in  paths of righteousness for his  name’s sake. (Psalms 23:1-3 ESV)

Our household has been full of praises the past two weeks. Within that time, both Meagan and I have been hired to new jobs, which we are very excited about. I have been offered the Children’s Ministry Coordinator position at Grace Presbyterian, just down the street from school. It is an amazing opportunity and, though somewhat anxious about the new responsibilities, I am excited about getting my hands back in the soil of ministry. With all of this in view, it seems only fitting that today’s topic is providence.

If you are unsure, providence is God’s “protective care.” In our culture, providence has come to mean that God gives us the physical stuff we need to live: money, food, shelter, etc. I believe that if this is the only, or even the primary, way that providence is understood, we have missed so much. I say this out of personal experience, so let me explain.

Over the past few months Meagan and I have struggled financially. Especially when student loan payments began to be due, we, and by we I primarily mean Meagan, were making almost exactly what our bill payments were and nothing extra. For a few months, that meant that our lifestyle was supported mostly by credit. As our credit card bill slowly climbed each month, we got more distressed about our situation.

Finally, we had enough. Towards the beginning of this year we radically changed our approach to finances. This started with an “envelope” system in which we took our paychecks and Meagan’s tips and divided it using actual, physical envelopes before most of it even made it to the bank. Then, we established a spending allowance whereby we receive a set amount of cash each week to do with as we please. After all these changes, we saw our credit card bill start to deflate and our savings account slowly start to rise.

Through all of this I learned my first lesson on how God has provided for us. Now God’s providence, his protective care, was not giving us more money, it was giving us limited money. God gave us a challenge, and opportunity to struggle, and from that we gained something far greater than a savings account. We began to learn how to truly manage our resources. We adjusted our lifestyle, lived in it, and discovered that we were more joyful because of it.

My second lesson came this week and was pointed out to me by one of my mentors. After telling him about out the job I had just accepted, he noted that it was a form of providence. Once again, not primarily in a financial way, but in terms of training. God has provided a place for me to work, learn, and begin honing my skills in pastoral ministry. Moving to a new church will also offer me and Meagan new opportunities to get plugged in, meet new people, and have influence in ministries that we don’t even realize yet. What an amazing way that God is caring for us.

Money is not God’s end, nor should it be ours. It is simply a means. What God gives us, or often what he does not give us, is his way of leading us to places he wants us to go, or as Psalm 23 says, “beside still waters.” Many of the struggles, hardships, and suffering in our culture are due to misuse of what we have, that is our refusal not to drink. But those struggles can also act as the salt in our food that makes us thirsty for the river, God’s protective care, which is right in front of us. If we can keep this in mind, then we can see our abundances and even our poverties as blessings and God’s true providence.

Pax,

-Paul Hart C