Whilst visiting a London art gallery my wife and I noticed a painting of a young man dangling a cherry above the upturned face of a little girl and saying, “Shut your eyes and open your mouth and see what I will give you!” There’s an old saying, “Open your eyes and open your heart and see what providence will give you!” People sometimes say, “In the providence of God such and such a thing happened.” The word ‘providence’ means, ‘to see something in advance’. Because God is eternal and created time He is able to attend to our needs before we knew we had them! The puritans said, “He who observes providence will not be long before He has a providence to observe!” After almost 60 years of observing providence, I can truthfully say that my faith has been strengthened and my heart warmed thousands of times by clear signs of God’s providential love and care. Here’s a providence that happened the day after our visit to the art gallery.

I had an appointment with a newspaper editor in a town we’d never been to before. I knew the road but when I got there I realised I’d forgotten to bring his telephone and house numbers and there were over 100 houses in that long road! Instinctively we closed our eyes and prayed. When we opened them we saw a lady walking along the pavement. I called out, “D’you know anyone called Banks who lives in this road!” “Yes,” she said, “I’m just delivering this newspaper article to him.” Our mouths opened with wonder and praise to God for another example of His providential care. We’ve observed too many providences to know they’re God Incidences not co-incidences. The Bible is right when it says, “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” [ Proverbs 3:5-6 ]