Personal note: Over the next several weeks we will be unable to post new messages every weekday as is our norm. We have family coming in, including my brother from California and sister from Florida. My other brother lives within two hours drive in Easton, PA. This weekend we will have a Weber family reunion and then the following weekend we will be heading to Wisconsin for a reunion with my Steincross cousins from my mom's side.

Message summary: The mystery of providence describes those situations when life just doesn't make sense. From deep in our hearts we cry out "Why does God allow this to happen?" Have you ever experienced the mystery of providence?

Listen to our message on your audio player.

"Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them--do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?  I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish" (Luke 13:4,5).

The internet and modern technology makes it possible to follow world events in real time, instantaneously; some events are even streamed live. Social media can give us a very personal sense of the real-time suffering of individuals.

Over the weekend we have been following the news about the many deaths from the flooding in Texas (82 bodies recovered with others not yet recovered). Rain is in the forecast for that area which further complicates the search and rescue efforts. It is a tragedy so difficult to even comprehend and grievous to the soul.

As I muse upon this and pray for the many affected, I also seek to understand the reason for it all but that answer or explanation does not come. Events like this are certainly under what for many years I have called "the mystery of providence".

The Westminster shorter catechism states,

"Providence" is the doctrine of God's power in sustaining and guiding human destiny.

The gotquestions.com teaching site explains,

The mystery of providence describes those situations when life just doesn't make sense. We wonder - if God is in control, (and He most certainly is), why did this happen??? This is true in areas impacting all of us such as being in just the precise place and time to be involved in a deadly car accident or to have missed it by only a few seconds.

When considering the flash flooding in Texas I recall the testimony of Robert Rogers of Liberty, MO who lost his wife and all four of his children, in a flash flood while driving on an interstate in Kansas on I-35 in 2003. (That is a highway I often traveled on when driving from the Kansas City area to Tulsa to visit Brooksyne when we were dating.)

Robert, a dedicated believer, acknowledged that God could have prevented this from happening, yet He permitted it to happen which remains a great mystery of providence. Yet he kept his faith and shared his testimony with others. Years ago he shared at Lancaster Bible College. Many of you can consider situations like this in your own life.

This happens on large scale events like the floods in Texas and on the individual/family level such as a family member killed by a drunk driver, a house burning down and killing loved ones or a terminal cancer diagnosis. And there are many, many other types of mysteries of providence.

Don't expect an answer to why these things happen but rather a perspective.

In Luke 13 Jesus alludes to the collapse of a tower in Jerusalem that killed eighteen. Of course there were likely many others injured. When things like this happen we wonder why. That can be an important quest especially in the sense of seeking to prevent it from happening again.

However Jesus doesn't answer the "why" question in regard to the Siloam Tower collapse. Indeed Jesus does not provide an answer to many of our "why" questions. When things like this happen we want to know, "Why did this happen?" or as believers more specifically, "Why did God allow this to happen to me or someone I love?" Really, in our hearts we want to know how an unexplainable tragedy relates to God being in control or God's goodness.

Perhaps Jesus is reading the minds of his listeners when He, without apology, rebukes the simpleton mentality of those who have the view that the eighteen who died "were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem". We have occasionally encountered a similar attitude when an individual sees suffering in someone else, essentially asserting that the suffering must either be due to a lack of faith or some underlying sin. This is a profane form of spiritual pride. We are all sinners and we all have deficiencies in our faith.

Whatever the circumstance or cause, when death occurs people grieve deeply. We consider the agonizing death of these 18 and the grief of their family members, co-workers and friends some 2,000 years ago.

Rather than answering the "why" question regarding the Siloam tower collapse Jesus deals with a bigger and ultimately much more important issue. He merely forthrightly acknowledges there was a collapse killing 18.

Hear the words of our ever truthful Lord, "But unless you repent, you too will all perish". "Perish" in this context has to do with our eternal state apart from repentance similar to how the word is used in John 3:16. The emphasis of our Lord is in being ready for eternity.

Have you repented of your sins? Are you ready to meet your Maker right now if it's your time?

Here's a common prayer that expresses repentance to God and a desire to follow in His ways. I urge you to pray this prayer from your heart today:

Presenting ourselves to God is how we begin our new life as a Christian. It doesn't matter how sordid or troubled our lives are, if we come to Him in faith, God hears us and receives us as His sons and daughters. I earnestly pray that everyone reading has already done this or will do so.