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Following Our Father's Providential Plan
“As for me, the LORD has led me in the way” Genesis 24:27

We struggle to understand God’s will for our lives. We do so for one simple reason. God’s secret will for our lives is just that, secret. “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law”  (Deuteronomy 29:29).

We have God’s revealed will (also called his perceptive will) in his Word, the Bible. This makes clear his overall desires for us. God’s secret will (also called his decretive will) is his hidden, sovereign plan over all the world, and all of our life. 

When we struggle to know God’s will it is his hidden will. For example, when it comes to marriage, God reveals that we should marry a believer, but that leaves millions of possible candidates. How do we pick from among them all?

However, God does not leave us to simply guess. For in his providence, that is, “his wise and powerful sustaining and governing all his creatures and all their actions,” God gives us some direction. He leads us by his providence through circumstances. He “works all things according to the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11).

When Abraham sent his servant back to his home to find a wife for Isaac. The servant asked God to guide him to God’s chosen bride for Isaac, by his providence. He prayed: “Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac” (Genesis 24:14). He asked Rebekah for a drink. Then in response she also offered to fetch water for his ten camels, an arduous task, considering their enormous thirst. 

When he discovers that she is a believer as well, of Abrahm’s extended family, he stops to worship God. “As for me, the LORD has led me in the way” (Genesis 24:27). God’s secret will was made clear, through God’s providence. God’s providential leadership never contradicts his revealed will. 

How do we follow our loving Father’s providential plans for our life? First, we should understand that he loves us and has a plan. Second, since he loves us, we can count on him to guide us through his providence, as Abraham’s servant did. Third, like the servant, we must recognize when God is leading us providentially, testing these providences by conformity to his word. Finally, we should embrace his plan, taking faith-filled action, trusting our Good Father. 

May we say each step of the way in life: “As for me, the LORD has led me in the way.”