Originally preached 11/4/12.

It’s always the same. As soon as I realize that I’m becoming excessively anxious about something I turn to the Lord in prayer. I ask Him to help me overcome the temptation to sin against Him by worrying. And He always does! For instance, I’m constantly thinking about my next sermon. I take my calling to be your pastor very seriously. I try hard to provide you folks with Christ honoring spiritual nourishment which will be especially helpful on a particular Sunday. I was looking for ideas for this sermon when a series of time consuming ministerial distraction’s entered upon the scene. I started to get anxious and then all of a sudden, God inwardly whispered two words into my heart: “Superstorm Sandy.” I immediately found myself humming: ‘His Eye Is On The Sparrow,’ and I knew that Jesus was watching over me. As long as I stay focused on pleasing Jesus and constantly acknowledging my total dependence upon Him to craft it, I knew that I wouldn’t experience any obstacle to putting this sermon together that couldn’t be overcome, and I didn’t.

I wish we had Christian TV meteorologist’s who actually believe the Bible is the inerrant Word of the living God; folks who really know our Creator and report weather conditions accordingly. It might sound something like this. “Based on all available data, Superstorm Sandy appears to be headed our way. Look at some of the devastation Atlantic City, N. J. is already experiencing. Please take all necessary precautions and then trust God. Above all, don’t worry. I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t dread the storms possible impact upon you and the folks you care about deeply. That’s normal! For our viewers who are not all that familiar with the Bible I’ll try to show you why you shouldn’t worry.

This is our Father’s world! He’s all powerful and is in absolute control of everything. I’ll be talking about what theologians refer to as being the Providence of God. In his terrific book; “Trusting God, Jerry Bridges defines it as being “God’s constant care for and His absolute rule over all His creation for His own glory and the good of His people. Bridges cites J. I. Packer’s definition of the Providence of God as being: “The unceasing activity of the Creator whereby, in overflowing bounty and goodwill, He upholds all creatures in ordered existence, guides and governs all events, circumstances, and free acts of angels and men, and directs everything to its appointed goal, for His own glory,” p.25

As usual, I’ll be using various Bible translations in my sermon to help you to get a better understanding and drive these comforting fact home. I’ll start with Job 36:22-25 and continue with other relevant Scriptures. Speaking of Job’s friend Elihu telling the afflicted sufferer, the ESV Study Bible says that: “Having described how God speaks through affliction (36:5-21), Elihu focus is now on the majestic and unsearchable ways of God (vs. 22-33) and the way in which His majesty is partially revealed in the governing of the power and purposes of storms (37: 1-13). Now ponder what Elihu says to Job:

²² “Do you have any idea how powerful God is? Have you ever heard of a teacher like him? ²³ Has anyone ever had to tell him what to do, or correct him, saying, ‘You did that all wrong!’? ²⁴ Remember, then, to praise his workmanship, which is so often celebrated in song. ²⁵ Everybody sees it; nobody is too far away to see it. Job 36:22-25 (MSG)

¹ Long ago God spoke in many different ways to our fathers through the prophets [in visions, dreams, and even face to face], telling them little by little about his plans. ² But now in these days he has spoken to us through his Son to whom he has given everything and through whom he made the world and everything there is. ³ God’s Son shines out with God’s glory, and all that God’s Son is and does marks him as God. He regulates the universe by the mighty power of his command. He is the one who died to cleanse us and clear our record of all sin, and then sat down in highest honor beside the great God of heaven. Hebrews 1:1-3 (TLB)

¹⁵ Christ is the exact likeness of the unseen God. He existed before God made anything at all, and, in fact, ¹⁶ Christ himself is the Creator who made everything in heaven and earth, the things we can see and the things we can’t; the spirit world with its kings and kingdoms, its rulers and authorities; all were made by Christ for his own use and glory. ¹⁷ He was before all else began and it is his power that holds everything together. Colossians 1:15-17 (TLB)

¹ The heavens are telling the glory of God; they are a marvelous display of his craftsmanship. ² Day and night they keep on telling about God. ³ Without a sound or word, silent in the skies, their message reaches out to all the world. The sun lives in the heavens where God placed it ^{4 5} and moves out across the skies as radiant as a bridegroom going to his wedding, or as joyous as an athlete looking forward to a race! ⁶ The sun crosses the heavens from end to end, and nothing can hide from its heat. Psalm 19:1-6 (TLB)

²² Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, O LORD our God. Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this. Jeremiah 14:22 (NIV)

³ He lets loose his lightning’s from horizon to horizon, lighting up the earth from pole to pole. ⁴ In their wake, the thunder echoes his voice, powerful and majestic. He lets out all the stops, he holds nothing back. No one can mistake that voice— ⁵ His word thundering so wondrously, his mighty acts staggering our understanding. ⁶ He orders the snow, ‘Blanket the earth!’ and the rain, ‘Soak the whole countryside!’ ⁷ No one can escape the weather—it’s there. And no one can escape from God. ⁸ Wild animals take shelter, crawling into their dens, ⁹ When blizzards roar out of the north and freezing rain crusts the land. ¹⁰ It’s God’s breath that forms the ice, it’s God’s breath that turns lakes and rivers solid. Job 37:3-10 (MSG)

It’s God ^{8 “}Who fills the sky with clouds, preparing rain for the earth, Then turning the mountains green with grass, Psalm 147:8 (MSG)

^{10 “}It’s God’s breath that forms the ice, it’s God’s breath that turns lakes and rivers solid. ¹¹ And yes, it’s God who fills clouds with rainwater and hurls lightning from them every which way. ¹² He puts them through their paces—first this way, then that— commands them to do what he says all over the world. ¹³ Whether for discipline or grace or extravagant love, he makes sure they make their mark. Job 37:10-13 (MSG)

⁷ “Yes, and I’m the One who stopped the rains three months short of harvest. I’d make it rain on one village but not on another. I’d make it rain on one field but not on another—and that one would dry up. Amos 4:7 (MSG)

King David was awestruck and baffled by these facts.

^{3 “}When I look up into the night skies and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you have made— ⁴ I cannot understand how you can bother with mere puny man, to pay any attention to him! Psalm 8:3-4 (TLB)

Kenneth Boa wrote in his great book, ‘Conformed to His Image’ that: “From the time David wrote those words until the invention of the telescope in the early seventeenth century, only a few thousand stars were visible to the unaided eye, and the universe appeared far less impressive than we now know it to be. Even until the second decade of the twentieth century, it was thought that the Milky Way galaxy was synonymous with the universe. This alone would be awesome in its scope, since our spiral galaxy contains more than 2000,000,000,000 stars and extends to a diameter of 1000,000 light-years (remember that a light second is more than 186,000 miles; the 93,000,000 miles between the sun and the earth is 8 light minutes). But more recent developments in astronomy have revealed that our galaxy is a member of a local cluster of about 20 galaxies and that this local cluster is but one member of a massive super clusters of thousands of galaxies. There are so many of these super clusters that are known to exist that the number of galaxies is estimated at more than 100,000,000,000.” Whenever I’m becoming overly anxious and starting to worry, the Holy Spirit jogs my memory about what Boa wrote-and I calm right down.

Ten years after Boa wrote that, the December 2, 2010 edition of the Burlington Free Press had this headline. New study finds that star count may triple. Estimate puts tally as high as 300 sextillion. Seth Borenstein of the Associated Press reports that: “The universe may glitter with far more stars than even Carl Sagan imagined when he rhapsodized about billions upon billions.”

“A new study suggests there are a mind-blowing 300 sextillion of them, or three times as many as scientists previously calculated. That is a 3 followed by 23 zeros. Or 3 trillion times 100 billion! The estimate, contained in a study published online Wednesday in the journal Nature, is based on findings that there are many more red dwarf stars-the most common star in the universe-than once thought. But the research goes deeper than that. The study by Yale University astronomer Pieter van Dokkum and Harvard astrophysicist Charlie Conroy questions a key assumption that astronomers often use: that most galaxies have the same properties as our Milky Way. And that conclusion is deeply unsettling to astronomers who want a more orderly cosmos.” That article was written almost two years ago and we are still discovering new revelations. I believe that we have only scratched the surface of the Creator’s infinite universe.

Boa asks, “What is humanity indeed! The God who created these stars and calls them all by name (Isaiah 40: 26) is unimaginably awesome; his wisdom, beauty, power, and dominion are beyond human comprehension. And yet he has deigned to seek intimacy with the people on this puny planet and has given them great dignity and destiny: “Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty!” (Psalm 8:5). These words are applicable to all people, but they find their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ, as the quotation of this passage in Hebrews 2:6-8 makes clear.”

^{2. 3} The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. Hebrews 1:3 (NIV)

¹⁵ We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. ¹⁶ For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. ¹⁷ He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. ¹⁸ And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body. He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. ¹⁹ So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. ²⁰ Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the Cross. Colossians 1:15-20 (MSG) Here’s how the Living Bible translated these verses.

¹⁵ Christ is the exact likeness of the unseen God. He existed before God made anything at all, and, in fact, ¹⁶ Christ himself is the Creator who made everything in heaven and earth, the things we can see and the things we can’t; the spirit world with its kings and kingdoms, its rulers and authorities; all were made by Christ for his own use and glory. ¹⁷ He was before all else began and it is his power that holds everything together. ¹⁸ He is the Head of the body made up of his people—that is, his Church—which he began; and he is the Leader of all those who arise from the dead, so that he is first in everything; ¹⁹ for God wanted all of himself to be in his Son. ²⁰ It was through what his Son did that God cleared a path for everything to come to him—all things in heaven and on earth—for Christ’s death on the cross has made peace with God for all by his blood. Colossians 1:15-20 (TLB)

Oh how I wish all human beings would view God’s creation through the light of the Bible, For starters, consider the following passages.

⁶ Then Ezra prayed, “You alone are God. You have made the skies and the heavens, the earth and the seas, and everything in them. You preserve it all; and all the angels of heaven worship you. Nehemiah 9:6 (TLB)

²⁶ Look at the night skies: Who do you think made all this? Who marches this army of stars out each night, counts them off, calls each by name —so magnificent! so powerful!— and never overlooks a single one? Isaiah 40:26 (MSG)

⁸ He covers the heavens with clouds, sends down the showers, and makes the green grass grow in mountain pastures. ⁹ He feeds the wild animals, and the young ravens cry to him for food. Psalm 147:8-9 (TLB)

²⁵ or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn’t take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make him. ²⁶ Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living ²⁷ so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. ²⁸ We live and move in him, can’t get away from him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-created.’ Acts 17:25-28 (MSG)

¹⁰ For God, who gives seed to the farmer to plant, and later on good crops to harvest and eat, will give you more and more seed to plant and will make it grow so that you can give away more and more fruit from your harvest. 2 Corinthians 9:10 (TLB)

¹⁵ My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me. Psalm 31:15 (NIV)

I’m hoping that by now you folks can see that God governs His creation and nothing happens by chance or luck. We have been looking at some examples of the Providence of God. Here’s some more for you to think about.

¹² Riches and honor come from you alone, and you are the Ruler of all mankind; your hand controls power and might, and it is at your discretion that men are made great and given strength. 1 Chronicles 29:12 (TLB)

There’s a lot of comforting food for thought in the teaching of Jesus about His followers becoming anxious to the point that it turns into the sin of worry.

²⁴ “You cannot serve two masters: God and money. For you will hate one and love the other, or else the other way around. ²⁵ “So my counsel is: Don’t worry about things—food, drink, and clothes. For you already have life and a body—and they are far more important than what to eat and wear. ²⁶ Look at the birds! They don’t worry about what to eat—they don’t need to sow or reap or store up food—for your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are. ²⁷ Will all your worries add a single moment to your life? ²⁸ “And why worry about your clothes? Look at the field lilies! They don’t worry about theirs. ²⁹ Yet King Solomon in all his glory was not clothed as beautifully as they. ³⁰ And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won’t he more surely care for you, O men of little faith? ³¹ “So don’t worry at all about having enough food and clothing. Why be like the heathen? ³² For they take pride in all these things and are deeply concerned about them. But your heavenly Father already knows perfectly well that you need them, ³³ and he will give them to you if you give him first place in your life and live as he wants you to. ³⁴ “So don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time. Matthew 6:24-34 (TLB)

By the grace of God and only by His grace, I was able to sleep like a baby throughout the night the weather people had predicted we were going to be clobbered by the devastating winds of Hurricane Sandy. It helped that I never even heard them because I always remove my ear-whistles before I go to bed. Thank you Jesus, thank you!

⁴ Always be full of joy in the Lord; I say it again, rejoice! ⁵ Let everyone see that you are unselfish and considerate in all you do. Remember that the Lord is coming soon. ⁶ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don’t forget to thank him for his answers. ⁷ If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus. ⁸ And now, brothers, as I close this letter, let me say this one more thing: Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about. Philippians 4:4-8

Lord willing, next week….