Bishop's letters: December 06 +Graham
Why We Must Not Give up on God’s Good Providence
In the first century of the Church, the Christians boldly made a new assertion; and it was made in the face of all kinds of difficulty. God is good, they insisted. He stretches his arms of love over the whole world and acts for our good.
At that time, there were many wars; and the Church was persecuted. Many people saw the world as an evil place from which the soul must escape. But the Christians held on to what their faith taught them. God is good. If we pray he will help us; it is his will to do good to all.
Before Jesus came, the gods believed in by the Greeks and Romans were fickle and temperamental. No-one knew for certain whether or not they might displease them or have their favour. The world was a fearful place and the gods provided little assurance of goodness and safety.
All that changed with the coming of Jesus. The greatness of the Christian message included the positive message that God is good and has created a good world. Over it he exercises a divine providence through which he seeks to work things out for good.
In the course of time this truth gained ascendancy and human confidence grew with it. Music, art, travel and science all flourished in the succeeding centuries. When the world feels good, people are more adventurous. And when things go wrong, their first instinct is to look to the one whose will is over all and say, ‘Lord, help me.’
So what will happen if we throw away that confidence in God’s good providence? We don’t have to look far to see.
First, since my instinct is no longer to look to God for help, I must find someone to blame for what has happened and sue them. There is more and more litigation and compensation. If I injure myself committing a burglary, it is the fault of the property owner. What a topsy-turvy world! Some firms even advertise for business on a ‘no win, no cost’ basis, encouraging the culture of blame and compensation. By contrast, with a sense of God’s good providence, I will acknowledge what God has allowed to happen and pray for his help and comfort. It is a far better way.
It is not surprising that we have become a society in which we no longer take risks, a ‘risk-averse society’, as some say. Everything must be completely safe or not done at all. We are so afraid of being found at fault and maybe sued. Youth groups must fold if the requisite number of leaders cannot be found, or if the right gender person is not available for the car run. Some teachers are afraid to take children on outings or on extra-curricular activities. They dare not pick up a child who falls in the play ground. Instead of trust and love, our lives are becoming ruled by fear of getting things wrong. As we ignore God and his providence, we will fall back into lives of fear, just as it was before Jesus. Large sums of money are spent in business seeking to guard against those who might sue for compensation.
This is not a happy society, as polls make clear. We are returning to be driven by fear. What is not yet widely realised is that all this unhappiness follows directly from dismissing the good and loving providence of God over his world. It is far better to trust and to pray.
+Graham Dow
