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###### Get Good from Occasional Providential Things and Events

{Since the Heavenly Trade Is the Best Trade…

Exhortation and Counsel to Professors of Christianity

Use Everything for Heavenly Advantages

Get Good from Occasional Providential Things and Events}

Get good from occasional things and events; these are not chance or fortune as the blind world calls it, but the products of divine wisdom and pleasure toward believers for their good. Albane received a persecuted Christian into his house, and, seeing his holy devotion and sweet conduct, he was so much affected by this good example that he became both a professing Christian and martyr. It was not by accident, but divine intention that Melchizedek would meet Abraham to bless him (Genesis 14:18),1146 Shimei would meet David to curse him (2 Samuel 16:5),1147 Moses would meet Jethro’s daughter at the well in Midian (Exodus 2:15–16),1148 and that David would meet the Egyptian while pursuing the Amalekites (1 Samuel 30:11, 15).1149 It was God who put the thoughts into the mind of Saul’s servant to speak with Samuel, by which means he received a kingdom (1 Samuel 9:6).1150 It was by divine action that, when Joseph was thrown into the pit, the Midianites would pass by, Joseph’s brothers would pull him out and sell him to the Ishmaelites, and they to Potiphar (Genesis 37:28, 36).1151 The Lord is carrying on some part of His work, some piece of mercy or justice, comfort or affliction, by all His providential events. His people should be coworkers with Him and be learning something from every providential event or thing they encounter from time to time in their comings and goings and pursuits in the world. What fruitful meditations Samson had from beholding the carcass of the lion and swarm of bees in it in his journey to Timnah (Judges 14:8, 14).1152 [The Lord Jesus gave us an example of drawing object lessons from life and of getting good from providential things and events, teaching His disciples when] our Savior saw the withered fig tree in His walk from Bethany to Jerusalem (Matthew 21:19–22).1153 When viewing the beautiful buildings of the Temple, Christ gave a major discourse to the disciples (Luke 21:5–36).1154 When He came near and saw the city, He wept over it and used it for instruction to His disciples (Luke 19:41–44).1155 He saw people giving money into the treasury and used it (Mark 12:42–44).1156 Some told Him of the blood of the Galileans that Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices, and He made profitable use of it for His disciples’ instruction (Luke 13:1–2).1157 What sermons Christ preached when He took His text from the well water of Samaria (John 4:9–10),1158 and from the manna given to Israel in the wilderness (John 6:26–32)1159 when the crowds flocked after Him for the loaves. Christian, if you would grow spiritually rich, make some spiritual use of all you see, hear, and encounter in your journeys, dealings, and interactions in the world. When you walk into your garden, get some instruction from all you see; every plant in the garden preaches God to you.1160 When you walk into the field, as did Isaac, meditate on the creatures and providences of God that you see. Then look to the heavens, not only as the Pharisees to discern the weather (Matthew 16:3),1161 but to see the glory of God and His handiwork (Psalm 19:1).1162 As the chemist, extract some good from everything you encounter. It was said of Jerome that he knew how to gather gold out of a dunghill and honey out of weeds, leaving the poison for the spiders. People mine into the bowels of the earth, ransack the creation, and exhaust themselves to get a few shadows; and all the while, they do nothing to get the substance that endures. Undoubtedly, this is one reason for poverty of soul this day. We do not trade with the things and events that come our way for spiritual advantages. Beg spiritual skill and faithfulness to be improving all you see, hear, do, or enjoy to the profit of your soul.1163

1146“Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High” (Genesis 14:18 NKJV).

1147“When King David came to Bahurim, behold, there came out from there a man of the family of the house of Saul whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera; he came out cursing continually as he came” (2 Samuel 16:5 NASB).

1148“When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well. Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock” (Exodus 2:15–16 ESV).

114911“Now they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David, and gave him bread and he ate, and they provided him water to drink. 15Then David said to him, ‘Will you bring me down to this band?’ And he said, ‘Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring you down to this band’” (1 Samuel 30:11, 15 NASB).

1150“And he said to him, ‘Look now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is an honorable man; all that he says surely comes to pass. So let us go there; perhaps he can show us the way that we should go’” (1 Samuel 9:6 NKJV).

115128“Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt. 36Now the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard” (Genesis 37:28, 36 NKJV).

11528“When he returned later to take her, he turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion. 14So he said to them, ‘Out of the eater came something to eat, And out of the strong came something sweet.’ But they could not tell the riddle in three days” (Judges 14:8, 14 NASB).

1153“And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, ‘May no fruit ever come from you again!’ And the fig tree withered at once. When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, ‘How did the fig tree wither at once?’ And Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, “Be taken up and thrown into the sea,” it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith’” (Matthew 21:19–22 ESV).

1154“Then, as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, He said, ‘These things which you see—the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down.’ So they asked Him, saying, ‘Teacher, but when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?’” (Luke 21:5–7 NKJV).

1155“Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation’” (Luke 19:41–44 NKJV).

1156“A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, ‘Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on’” (Mark 12:42–44 NASB).

1157“There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things?’” (Luke 13:1–2 NKJV).

1158“The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?’ (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink,” you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water’” (John 4:9–10 ESV).

1159“Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.’ Then they said to him, ‘What must we do, to be doing the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’ So they said to him, ‘Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”’ Jesus then said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven’” (John 6:26–32 ESV).

1160It has always been true that God’s handiwork in the entire universe teaches us much about Him, especially His power and godhead: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20 NKJV). But there is more: there is no special reason why a universe should have laws that are reliably described by mathematics. God shows us His rational and logical design skills. There is no special reason why food should taste good. God shows us that He is a good God. There is no special reason why there is beauty in nature, art, and humanity. God shows us a little of His glory. And so on. And so on. Nor was there or ever will be any role for chance in determining God’s creation or providence. Contrary to teachings on evolution, the complexities of the physical and biological world as we now understand them cannot have come about by chance; it is mathematically impossible. Give glory to God and thank Him for His goodness and mercy in things temporal and spiritual.

1161“And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?” (Matthew 16:3 NASB).

1162“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1 ESV).

1163Just as most of us are on our best behavior in public, the advice Ashwood has given us can help us dwell consciously in the presence of the God of Glory.

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