Luck or Providence? (B)

Luck or Providence? (B)

Terry Dashner……………….Faith Fellowship Church PO Box 1586 Broken Arrow, OK 74013

Evening services have concluded. Let me get back to what I was arguing earlier. The events of history didn’t happen by luck. They were guided along by the hand of Providence. God is bringing all things into the swallow of His Glorious Kingdom. After all, we’ve been asking God to bring forth His Kingdom on earth “…as it is in Heaven…” for 2000 years. He does hear and answer prayers you know; therefore, He’s over riding events of humankind for His Sovereign purpose and will until the earth becomes His Kingdom completely. God always gets what He wants.

Consider this. What if the Phoenicians had not been sea lovers? How far would the Reformers have traveled had they not built on the sea-voyaging expertise of the ancient Phoenicians? Once again author Bill Yenne writes, “Early human civilizations had little contact with cultures other than those immediately adjacent to them geographically. This continued to be true even after the rise of the great civilizations in Egypt and Mesopotamia.

“The Phoenician fleet—which included military as well as commercial vessels—visited practically every port of any size on both sides of the Mediterranean. The fleet sailed beyond the Straits of Gibraltar into the Atlantic Ocean and called at ports in northern Europe and down the coast of Africa.”

Had not the Phoenicians been bold enough to defy ancient tales of sea monsters—roaming the high seas to devour ships and crews—then navigation skills and technology which were needed to send Columbus to the new world would not have existed. God was working behind the scenes with his ancient sailors, though primitive they were; nevertheless, from them came the celestial knowledge that made possible the sextant and the magnetic compass.

Let’s continue on. What if the superior numbers of Persian forces had overcome the Greek city states as they were favored to do? Western civilization would have been the history of Iran. Who stopped the mighty forces of Xerxes against all odds? Only something supernatural could have thwarted the Persian masses. In 519-465 BC Xerxes gathered together a very large army and navy to march on Greece—estimated 2.5 million troops.

The first major victory of the campaign occurred on September 23, 480 BC. The Greeks lured the Persian fleet into the narrow straits off the island of Salamis, outmaneuvered it and destroyed it. Xerxes regrouped over the winter and returned the following year and met the Greeks in battle on the Plain of Plataea. Again, as had been the case of Marathon and Salamis, an outnumbered Greek force succeeded in outmaneuvering and defeating the larger and more powerful Persian army. This marked the beginning of the end of Persian world rule. This paved the way for the next conqueror, Alexander the Great.

The Bible declares over and over again that God brings down one ruler and lifts up another for His purposes. That’s a good thing. To know that God is in control even when things seem out of control is a great feeling. If you can trust Him, He will guide you safely along, even through rough and stormy seas. God does not fail His people. If men will live for Him, He will bless them and serve His purposes through them. They will walk blessed and honored before all men. God is Sovereign. God rules over the entire universe. Trust Him.

I’ll visit this topic again. In the mean time, keep the faith. Stay the course. Jesus is coming soon.

Pastor T. dash

About the Author

Pastors a small church in Broken Arrow, OK