Divine Providence

Fiona Reynolds March 24, 2023 2 2

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Psalm 23: 6 (NLT)

6 Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
    all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord
    forever.

I will be straight with you. When I started preparing for this week’s prayers, I felt I had to look up the word “providence”. It is a word I thought I kind-of knew but if you had asked me to define it, I would have struggled. So, I looked it up.Turns out it means something—anything—not of human origin that influences, perhaps even controls, our lives. You might call to mind astrology or fate or Murphy’s law… all are classed as forms of providence but, for the Psalmist, the only true source of providence is God.

And this is good news! Why? Well, think on who God is. How God operates. What words come to mind? Goodness. Mercy. Love. Justice. Awe. Wonder. Beauty. So, if God is somehow providential, if God somehow influences and/or controls our lives, then these same things will express themselves in our lives, both as individuals and as a community of faith. God can only give from the essence of God: thanks be to God!

PRAYER:

If I am to be pursued by anyone, dear God, let it be you:

your goodness, your mercy, your love.

When I am wrestling with doubt, pursue me with faith;

when I am subsumed with pain and darkness, pursue me with hope;

when I know only fear, pursue me with love.

Never stop pursuing me, merciful One,

not for a moment,

not until I am resting in your heart,

forever,

AMEN.