well as you can see this is a very big book providence
over 700 pages so you should ask me don't you know people don't read 700 page books
yes i do know that and so you should ask next so why did you write a 700 page book
and hear two answers one is that a few people
read 700 page books and they tend to be the people who influence other people
and the second reason is even though somebody may not choose to read through this cover to cover
they will be a lover of the bible a lover of the sovereign rule of god over all things and they
would love to have a big fat book on their shelf that's got a really good index and a really good
table of content so that they can go to it anytime they want and find help regarding a particular
text so it becomes a resource kind of book not just a book that you'd read from cover to cover
so it's about providence now maybe you'd ask me another question why didn't you call it
the sovereignty of god i mean didn't we hear you say for years you wanted to write a book called
sightings of the sovereignty of god that's the title i was working with for 20 years for this
book so why didn't you write that i did write that but the reason i call it providence is because
as i got into it i realized i've got to write not just about the fact that god is sovereign
that is he has the authority and the right and the power to do whatever he pleases and he does
but you have to deal with well why does he do what he does where is it all going and once
you talk about purposeful sovereignty that's what this is this is about the sovereignty of god and
where it's all going and that's what i mean by providence purposeful sovereignty
so here's here's why i wrote the book here's what difference i think it will
make in your life if you were to get into this i'll just mention several reasons
out of 10 that i closed the book with number one i want there to be god besotted people in the
world i want them to live in a god-entranced world and i don't know a doctrine better
than the providence of god to make people god besotted in a god-entranced world because
the providence of god means he guides the courses of the stars and has them all named all billions
of them and he causes the little birds to fall out of trees in the darkest jungle of the amazon and
so from the tiniest meticulous parts of the universe to the grand parts of the universe
he rules and if you believe that if that grips you you'll look at everything differently you'll be a
god besotted person that's number one i want there to be god besotted people in a god entranced world
number two i want you to have assurance of your salvation it says in ephesians 1
in him we have obtained an inheritance according to his purpose who works all things together
according to the counsel of his will so works all things according to the counsel of his will is
providence but notice it's connected to we have an inheritance so the point is you can be sure
you're going to make it to your inheritance because god is a god of absolute all-pervasive
providence it's not just a random theoretical doctrine it's very very personal in the way paul
presents it third suffering in my life in my teaching in my experience no doctrine comes close
to providing the stability underneath your feet when the worst things happen to you
nothing is better than to know you meant it for evil satan god meant it for good i mean genesis
50 verse 20 is like a banner flying over every bad thing that happens to christians
you meant it for evil and the you might be persecutors the you might be your own sinfulness
the you might be the devil it's true they meant it for evil god in his providence meant it for good
therefore there's a rock under your feet you never have to say where was god when this happened
and the last thing i would say is courage and authority to pursue the nations
remember what jesus said all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me
go make disciples if you believe that god has all pervasive all-embracing authority right power
over all nations you'll take that command with joyful seriousness i think this book is a book
about missions as it is a book about everything because god's providence is all pervasive so
for those four reasons at least i hope and i pray that you will find help in this book