What is the Providence of God? Acts 25:1-12
Millard Erickson once said, “The providence of God means the continuing action of God in preserving His creation and guiding it toward his intended purposes”
What this means is that we are able to live our lives knowing that God is present and active in every part our lives and that things are not happening by some strange coincidence or by accident.
“In the late 1800’s a member of Britain’s Parliament went to Scotland to make a speech. He got off the train in Edinburgh, and took a carriage south toward his destination but unfortunately, the carriage became stuck in deep mud. A local farm boy came to the rescue with his team of work horses and after pulling them free, the grateful politician offered a reward, but the boy refused to accept it.
Determined to pay the young man for his help, the politician asked, "Is there anything I can do for you? What would you like to do with yourself when you grow up?"
"I’d like to become a doctor" the young man replied.
The Member of Parliament promised to do what he could, and in fact secured admission to the university for the young man.
During World War 2 more than 50 years later, Winston Churchill lay dangerously ill in Morocco, suffering from pneumonia. A new wonder drug, called penicillin was administered to him.
Penicillin was discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming, the Scottish farm boy who pulled the politician’s carriage out of the mud.
That’s pretty cool isn’t it? BUT the story gets better. You see the politician who had sponsored the farm boy, now physician was Randolph Churchill, Winston Churchill’s father.”
The providence of God is, sometimes, mind-boggling and we can never tell how God may choose to execute His plans.
In our text, today, Felix is gone and there’s a new sheriff in town. Actually a new Governor named Festus. The Jews tried to trick Festus into sending Paul to Jerusalem because they were plotting to kill Paul before he got there. Their little trick failed and God moved in powerful ways to secure Paul’s trip to Rome.
I want you to know that God, in His wisdom, will guide us through every circumstance we face but we must surrender to His will in order to make it through.
There are 3 things I want us to get from our passage today.
1. Sometimes God sets up intentional roadblocks (v. 1)
Sometimes in order to be right where God needs us, when He needs us; He must put up a few roadblocks.
Paul has been stuck in this prison for over 2 years. He knows the Jews want him dead but he also knows that God said he was going to Rome
Sometimes we face delays that drive us crazy because we know God is guiding in a certain direction. During those times we need to remember that “time spent waiting on God is not wasted time.” If we keep our focus we will see more clearly the work God is doing in and through us. And we will know that He is working out His kingdom plan even when we seem to be stuck and going nowhere. God set up this two year delay in order to put Paul right where he needed him and Paul was able to do amazing kingdom work.
Paul tells us in, [Rom 8:28 NKJV] “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to [His] purpose.”
The next roadblock you face could be because God is working something out for you. He may be working something out for someone else THROUGH you.
Think about this…Jesus performed some of the greatest miracles or shared His most powerful teachings because His schedule got interrupted and He was delayed.
When Jesus got interrupted He didn’t spin out of control because for Him, it was more about the person than His own agenda.
He knew that each and every interruption could very well be an opportunity to do some of our greatest work for God. If we look through His eyes we’ll be able see that neighbor or the people next to us in that waiting room or in the grocery store/restaurant and yes even in church. When we look through His eyes, we’ll understand that these are not interruptions but divine appointments to touch someone’s life.
What I am about to say may be a bit shocking because when God shared this with me it was a shocker.
If we get angry because our schedule gets interrupted, we are actually angry at God, Who set up the appointment.
Sometimes when I gripe because someone interrupted my busy schedule…When you are stomping and pitching a fit because you can’t do something you planned because someone keeps changing your plans…WE are yelling, gripping and complaining about God…
Does that mean that we shouldn’t make plans? No but that we shouldn’t fall apart, if and when God interrupts our plans.
If we get past point 1…the second thing I want you to see is:
B. We are under God’s protection (v. 2-5)
In these verses the Jews tried to trick the new governor into sending Paul to Jerusalem for a trial, which was an acceptable reason, if that had been the real reason. See they were planning to murder Paul once he got there.
Could God have sent Paul to Jerusalem and kept these Jews from carrying out their plan? Sure! Why didn’t He?
Because it would have meant that God was giving to plans of men and abandoning His plan for Paul.
God was about use Paul to influence Festus. But God had also set up a divine appointment with none other than King Agrippa, therefore He had Paul remain in Caesarea, protecting Paul from the evil scheme.
[Psa 31:14-15 NIV] “14 But I trust in you, LORD; I say, "You are my God." 15 My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me.”
[Eph 1:11 NIV] “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,”
There is a lot of discussion about Ephesians 1:11 and the idea that God has already decided who will and who won’t be saved, by the use of the word “predestinated.”
Before you were ever a twinkle in your mother’s eye, God had a plan for your life. He has laid out the direction you are to go and the task that you are to do. Sometimes we get off course but the plan never changes.
Maybe you say, “Pastor Festus wasn’t a believer.” And I would be forced to say, “You are absolutely 100% correct.” BUT God is not limited to working in and through the lives of believers, only. Why He is so powerful that He even has the ability to guide the wills of unbelievers to accomplish what He determines.
His faithfulness never ends, never fails and never wavers and His wisdom and goodness, His grace and resources are more than sufficient for any need.
[2Co 12:9 NKJV] “And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
Not only will God put up a few roadblocks but He will protect His own and:
C. God will ordain awesome opportunities (v. 10-12)
Paul faced yet another mock trial with no evidence and no credible witnesses. It appears that the Jews were accusing Paul of crimes deserving of death but had no evidence to prove his guilt. And according to Festus, Paul should have been set free two years earlier. But in order to keep the peace, he was willing to send Paul to Jerusalem, if Paul was willing to go. Paul, however, asked to be tried in front of Caesar, so Paul is on the way to Rome, where God told him he would go.
I want to close by quoting Pastor Jason Jones. “If there are places God wants us to be in, we will be there. If there are things that we are to do, we will do them. Not that we are puppets, or that your will is violated, but that God is powerful enough, wise enough, and good enough to bring our lives, this world, and everything in it to His intended goals and purposes.
And many times God uses ordinary means to achieve His ends, such as governments, privileges, parents, jobs, and school. And sometimes God uses painful experiences too like prison, sickness, divorce, heartbreak, etc. to bring about the greatest glory and the most good.
Our duty is to stay close to Him devotionally, hear from Him regularly, and be flexible enough in our plans, and confident enough in Him that when things go different from our expectation, we can lift our hands in authentic praise and gratefulness, even in pain, and be willing to walk through the fire with Him and for Him, remembering our light and momentary affliction is fueled by His sufficient grace.”
