Leaning into Providence

Sometimes I feel alone in the struggle, but when listen deep I sense a providence. A providence I can lean into.

It was the strangest thing I have experienced in a dog’s behaviour.

Our family once had a dog that leaned.

He could come alongside you, cross his legs and lean into you.

He was quite a big dog and so whenever he did this, you would have to brace yourself to not topple over.

He would be very comfortable and seemingly at home in doing this. I think he was saying in this behaviour that he trusted us. That he felt safe and at home.

We had got him from the pound as a puppy and I think he had been mistreated, but over time and with consistent love and care, he felt safe enough to ‘lean into’ us. There was a providence extended towards him and he responded.

Leaning into

I love that picture. Leaning into a safe and reliable place. Its a kind of deep knowing that everything is going to be ok because of the reliability of what you’re leaning into.

Another picture is of helping someone who may be unable to walk well or is need of support.

I know of some older people who have difficulty walking and often need the help of someone else. Someone they can ‘lean into’.

A young child comes up to their parent. They have been hurt by the days events. They snuggle in close and lean into find the security needed.

Providence

Providence is not a very common word in our everyday language.

I came across it when I was listened to the biography of Willliam Wilberforce by William Hague.

The word ‘Providence’ kept coming up over and over again.

Here are a couple of quotes.

As in nature, so in grace. What comes very quickly forward rarely abides long. Those who believe must not make haste, but be content to go Gods pace and watch the leadings of his providence. John Thornton – advice to William Wilberforce

What were evangelicalisms defining attributes as now adopted by Wilberforce? One was certainly a belief in the all encompassing belief in the role of providence.

God’s hand could be detected in events great and small.

It was providence he believed that enabled him to win his seat in parliament by methods later he would have found unacceptable thus launching him on a political life when an earlier conversion would have kept him away from it.

If he escaped without injury from accident as he did when the lynch pin on his coach fell out he saw providence at work.

When Napoleon dominated Europe, Wilberforce considered him manifestly an instrument in the hands of providence and when God is done with him, he will probably show how easily he can get rid of him.

That anything would happen entirely accidentally was now alien to Wilberforces thinking. How I abhor that word fortunate. As if anything happens by chance.

A Diamond Facet of God

I love how cut diamonds have a brilliant sparkle. Light bounces off all the faces.

A jeweller has cut facets into a once raw diamond, and now it has faces. Faces in which, if you passed a beam of light through a spectrum of colour, would burst out through.

Often when I am listening to people, I want to understand how they view God.

What is God like to them?

How has their understanding of God’s nature been formed?

Then I ask if they looked at a cut diamond and only focused on one facet of the diamond would they have a good understanding of the whole of the diamond?

Of course not.

Instead, we need to look at the multiple other facets to enjoy and embrace the wholeness of the diamond. Not just a cursory once over look, but more so a deep dive into this particular facet of what God is like.

So often, the facet of God that has so often been presented is the facet of justice and consequence.

But what about the facet of mercy?

The facet of grace?

What if we were to take a deep dive into all the glorious diamond facets?

The core of the diamond is, of course, love. Every action of God is built out of love and every spectrum activity that flows through God is rainbow promised in love. Genesis 9:13

I would like to lean into, or lean up against, the diamond facet wall of providence.

Spend some time there and feel the face.

Where would this take me?

What new spectrums of light would burst out from this focus?

40 days

Here is the challenge.

For the next 40 days, spend some reflective time, before going to bed, and journal 10 ways in which God has provided for you during the day.

This is not a list of ‘thank you’s’ or a ‘count your blessings’ this is something quite different.

Instead, I want you to fill out this sentence.

I saw how God provided for me in my need for _______ by giving me ________

Here are some recent entries I have made.

I saw how God provided for me in my need for rest by giving me a comfortable seat and some time to be quiet
I saw how God provided for me in my need for fellowship by having a neighbour drop by for a chat
I saw how God provided for me in my need for work by a new client contacting me

Create a list of 10 providences.

To create a list of ten, it will push you to think of the less than obvious, but the still very important.

8. I saw how God provided for me in my need for nutrition by giving me vegetables for dinner
9. I saw how God provided for me in my need for sleep by giving me a comfortable bed
10. I saw how God provided for me in my need for learning by giving me Turning the Page to read 😉

What we are doing through this exercise is building an awareness of the providence of God.

It is training the brain to notice God at work.

I lean into

I lean
I lean into
I lean into a safe and secure place
In there I find providence grace

I lean into
Ancient of Days
Secure providence
Known in all my ways

You bid me come
See what I can do
Lean into my heart
There is a providence for you

Self made man
I want to be
But anxiety and fear
Haunt the child in me

I come back
Old ways have taken me away
I lean into
Help me never to stray

I lean into
I find a ‘me’ shaped nook
In this rock of providence
Living waters gentle brook

Barry Pearman

Quotes to consider

Providence is wiser than you, and you may be confident it has suited all things better to your eternal good than you could do had you been left to your own option. John Flavel, The Mystery of Providence
“It would much conduce to the settlement of your heart, to consider that by fretting and discontent you do yourself more injury than all your afflictions could do. Your own discontent is that which arms your troubles with a sting; you make your burden heavy by struggling under it. Did you but lie quietly under the hand of God, your condition would be much more easy than it is.” John Flavel, Keeping the Heart
Providence is like a curious piece of tapestry made of a thousand shreds, which, single, appear useless, but put together, they represent a beautiful history to the eye. John Flavel, Keeping the Heart
The Providence of God is like Hebrew words – it can be read only backwards. John Flavel
If we were to understand how dear we are to God, our relation to Him, our value in His eyes, and how He protects us by His faithful promises and gracious presence, we would not tremble at every appearance of danger.” John Flavel, Triumphing Over Sinful Fear
One word of God can do more than ten thousand words of men to relieve a distressed soul. John Flavel, The Mystery of Providence
Two things destroy the peace and tranquility of our lives; our bewailing past disappointments, or fearing future ones. John Flavel, The Mystery of Providence
Every man loves the mercies of God, but a saint loves the God of his mercies. The mercies of God, as they are the fuel of a wicked man’s lusts, so they are fuel to maintain a good man’s love to God; not that their love to God is grounded upon these external benefits. John Flavel, The Mystery of Providence
That which begins not with prayer, seldom winds up with comfort. John Flavel, The Mystery of Providence

Questions to answer

If God is like a multifaceted diamond, which facet of God has your heart’s attention?
How do the words ‘luck’, ‘fate’, or ‘karma’ sit within your life?
When the going gets tough, where do you ‘lean into’? Self-reliance? Manipulation? Control?

Formation exercise

For the next 40 days, create a list of 10 providences at the end of each day. What do you notice about your levels of fear and anxiety as you do this exercise?