Church of the Holy City

Trust and God’s Providence

Trust and God’s Providence
Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete
September 19, 2010

Numbers 13:17-33 John 4:43-53 Psalm 115

Today’s Bible readings concern trust and doubt. The Israelites questioned whether God could bring them into the Promised Land. It is called the Promised Land because God promised Abraham that He would bring his descendents into the land of Canaan. Moses repeats this promise, and sends out spies to explore the land of Canaan and see if it is a good land or not. Also, Moses asks them to see if it would be possible to take the land. The spies return and say that it is indeed a land flowing with milk and honey. As evidence of the goodness of the land, they bring back a cluster of grapes, some pomegranates and figs. But they doubt whether they can take the land or not. They say that the cities are fortified and the people are powerful. They mention the descendents of Anak, who are described as giants in the Bible. The Israelites say that they seemed as grasshoppers compared to the Anakites. They don’t trust God’s promise, and say that they cannot overcome the residents of Canaan. Only Caleb alone says that they can succeed. Only Caleb trusts in God’s promise.
In our New testament reading, things are different. A certain royal official has a son who was close to death. He begs Jesus to come to his home and heal his son. Jesus tells him right on the spot that he can go home, and that his son will live. Upon returning home, the official finds his son well. He asks when his son got better and finds that it was the exact moment when Jesus said he would live. Then the man, and all his household believe. There seems to be some question about the trust of this official. He asks Jesus to heal his son, which implies faith. But Jesus seems to think that until they see a wonder, they won’t believe. Jesus says, “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders you will never believe” (John 4:48). And the story says that it is only after the healing that the people believe. But they do believe in the end.
These stories reflect our own experiences in life. We all go through challenges and difficult times that may make our trust in God waver. The Gospel Word is to trust God throughout life’s challenges. Jesus tells us to rest in His power. When we are weary and burdened, Jesus tells us to lay our burdens on Him and rest in His care.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matt. 11:28-29).
He tells us to trust that He will take care of us. He knows us intimately, and will look out for us.
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. 30And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows (Matt 10:29-31).
Swedenborg affirms this Gospel message. He tells us that God’s Divine Providence is guiding us in even the smallest areas of our lives.
It is to be known that the Divine Providence is universal, that is, in things the most minute; and that they who are in the stream of this providence are borne continually toward happiness, whatever may be the appearance of the means (AC 8478).
These messages are the voice of religion in our lives. This is the faith that Christians are called to trust in. Through all the events in our lives, we are called to believe that God is working to bring us into his kingdom and thus into greater and greater heavenly joy and happiness.
But in Swedenborg’s own language there is that small but alarming phrase. “They who are in the stream of this providence are borne continually toward happiness, whatever may be the appearance of the means.” And it is that means that becomes the question for many of us. The means by which we are borne toward happiness may not always be an easy road.
This is what the story about the spies sent into Canaan refers to. Many readers of the Old Testament are put off by all the fighting in the Old Testament. And the conquest of Canaan involved fighting with the residents there. It was a conquest. It was a conquest in which the children of Israel prevailed over the Canaanites and basically took over their land. When we read the story literally, this doesn’t seem right. It doesn’t seem right for a foreign race to take over another people, and deprive them of their land. But in Swedenborg’s Bible interpretation, we are asked to look deeper into the story. We are asked to see the story as a symbol of our own spiritual life. This means that the Amalekites, the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites are all inside us. They refer to aspects of our personality that we need to reckon with and to overcome. The various nations in Canaan are challenges to our spiritual life that we must contend with. These are the events in our lives that cause us struggle, doubt, and fear. They are the limitations, the shortcomings, the sins that block the sunlight of the soul.
These personality elements cause us doubt and despair. They make us wonder if God can truly deliver us from our hardships. Sometimes, it looks as if we are bereft from God, and left alone in a hostile world. They make it hard to live in God’s promise. They make it difficult to trust that even the hairs of our heads are numbered. It takes a great leap of faith to hold on to the Gospel promise, and believe that God is leading us into greater and greater happiness regardless of the appearance of how this is happening. We have many anxieties in this life. And it is hard to look beyond these anxieties, sometimes. Swedenborg writes,
As regards the happiness of eternal life, the person who is in affection for good and truth cannot feel it when he is living in the world, but a certain enjoyment instead. The reason is, that in the body he is in worldly cares and in anxieties thence which prevent the happiness of eternal life, which is inwardly in him, from being manifested in any other way at that time. For when this happiness flows in from the interior into the cares and anxieties that are with the person outwardly, it sinks down among the cares and anxieties there, and becomes a kind of obscure enjoyment; but still it is an enjoyment in which there is a blessedness and in this a happiness (AC 3938).
When we are in anxiety about the things of this world, it may be very hard for us to feel that heavenly happiness that is flowing in from the inside. This is when we must above all have that trust in God, that even the hairs of our heads are numbered. We need to look up from the world, and know that there is a higher order of things than what this world has to offer. When we can see things from the point of view of eternity, things we experience in our day-to-day life are put in perspective. Then we are able to bear life’s difficulties better. Swedenborg paints a pretty idealistic picture of how the person of faith bears the difficulties of this world. He says that people who trust in the Divine do not have care about what tomorrow brings:
These, notwithstanding they have care for the morrow, still have none; for they do not think of the morrow with solicitude, still less with anxiety. They bear it with an even temperament, whether they get the things they desire or not; neither do they lament over the loss of them; they are content with their lot. If they become rich, they do not set their heart upon riches; if they are raised to honors, they do not regard themselves as more worthy than others; if they become poor, they are not made sad; if their condition be low, they are not dejected. They know that all things advance toward a happy state in eternity for those who put their trust in the Divine, and that whatever befalls them in time conduces thereto (AC 8478).
If we can only see things that way, we will live a more peaceful life. If we trust in God’s Providence, we will know that God is always with us. We will know that when we come to God, and lay our burden on Him, we will find rest for our souls. We will know that God is always bringing us into greater heavenly happiness. Is this too idealistic? Swedenborg gets even more idealistic. He says that, “so far as any one is in the stream of the Divine Providence, so far he or she is in a state of peace” (AC 8478). If we can only trust in God, if we can only believe that God is looking out for our eternal welfare, if we can only have the faith of Caleb, then we can bear whatever comes our way. This may be a hard lesson. There’s a song lyric from a band I knew in Florida that speaks to this issue. In a song written by Heather Brooks, we hear the following line, “Without those desperate hours, would we ever turn to you, and recognize our weakness?” Sometimes we need to be thoroughly shaken up to turn to God and rest in His care. To the Israelite spies it was too hard a lesson. But if we keep an open eye, we may see miracles working in our lives. We may find ourselves healed of the shortcomings that inhibit our birthright of joy. We may believe that God can bring us into a happiness we could never have imagined earlier in life. This is God’s promise to us. “And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28:20).