Podcast: Design of Providence

Here is the latest podcast, where I go through 2 Kings 18-19 and speak on God's providence and His sovereignty in all things.

Further Meditations on Providence

Several months ago, I watched the Japanese film Nankyoku Monogatari, more well known in the west as Antarctica. The film tells the true story of the 1958 Japanese expedition to Antarctica, which ended abruptly due to horrible weather. With the situation getting worse and worse, the crew was eventually forced to abandon Showa Base, and evacuate everyone on the last available ship. The personnel included two dog handlers, who led a team of fifteen karafuto dogs. The handlers left the dogs behind with the understanding that a second team was coming to pick them up. Soon, however, they received terrible news: the weather was delaying the second team, and the ship was running out of supplies...they would have to leave the dogs behind. The sled team was thus left in the face of an oncoming blizzard, chained up and outside in the harsh cold.

Eleven months went by before another expedition was called to return to Showa Base, and the two dog handlers went along to collect what they thought would be the bodies of all the dogs. Seven of the dogs were sadly found dead, still tied to their chains. Eight dogs had managed to break free, but six had gone missing in the wilderness. Yet to the amazement of all present, two of the dogs - Taro and Jiro - were found alive and well! Jiro would go on to participate in another expedition, dying in 1960, while Taro continued to live until he passed away at the age of 15 in 1970. To this day there is a memorial to all fifteen dogs in Tokyo.

Source of Image

It is a great movie, but at the same time definitely not an easy one to watch - especially if you're a dog lover. Although I already knew the historical back story and was already aware which dogs would live, that didn't make the death scenes of the other six any less painful. At the end, where the two dogs go running happily to the dog handlers, the two groups embracing one another in the snow, you can't help but cry tears of joy. Even now, several months after seeing the film, I can't listen to the excellent theme by Vangelis without thinking of that scene and choking up.

No one knows exactly how Taro and Jiro managed to survive, or what precisely happened to the other six dogs. The film takes much liberty in explaining this gap, but captures well the hazards and cruel settings of Antarctica. The glaciers shift, wild animals attack, and the entire continent is covered in darkness for almost six months - for all intents and purposes, none of the dogs should have survived. They should have all been dead. A stray dog might be able to survive a harsh winter in a city where food and possible support are plentiful, but Antarctica has a winter unlike any known elsewhere, and food (if not life itself) can become immensely scarce. If anything, the six months during which Antarctica is covered in darkness should have been enough to bring about an end to all the dogs. Instead, for whatever reason, Taro and Jiro managed to survive long enough before they were rescued.

Let me pause to preemptively answer the question: do I believe in "doggy heaven"? Yes and no. I don't believe in a heaven for animals like you see in movies such as All Dogs Go to Heaven, nor do I believe in apocryphal ideas like "the rainbow bridge"; I do, however, believe that animals will have a part to play in the resurrection and God's renewed creation. I don't go any further on this than scripture explains, regardless of the emotional tugs at my heart which may demand I fill in the gaps. All the same, I enjoy the teaching of many Church Fathers that animals are an earthly sign of God's attributes. Animals are certainly used throughout scripture either as instruments of judgment (2 Ki 17:24-25), or as symbols of ideas such as faithful loyalty (Isa 1:3) or providential support (Luke 12:24).

If this notion is the case, then the story of Taro and Jiro is one amazing symbol of God's providence. Of all the dogs, these two brothers were not only given the power to break free from their chains, but were given just enough guidance, food and strength to survive the harshest and most unforgiving region in the world for eleven months. God could have willed that all fifteen would be found chained up and dead, but, according to His will and purpose, He saved two.

In short, I'm not amazed that most of the dogs didn't survive Antarctica...I'm amazed any survived.

Of Cats and Providence

Early last week, I received word from family members that Kitty, the family cat, had died. Those who have read my blog posts already know Kitty, as I used him as a subject to make LOLcat-style images here and over at the Sola Saturated blog here. Some might also remember that in a post on my old blog - done in memory of the family Saint Bernard, Winston - I described how Kitty looked out for Winston in his last days.

These past few weeks have seen me experience some severe disappointments, and Kitty's death was the worst of them all. Even though he was approaching 12 years of age, he still seemed as strong and chipper as ever. He seemed so invincible: he fought off foxes, chased raccoons up trees, hunted down chipmunks, and got the two dogs that lived in our house to do whatever he bid them to do. What's more, he was always one of the family, and though he often put on a tough guy persona, he was still a sweetheart. He enjoyed company, and if you started talking to him, he would begin to purr. I still remember one time stumbling on the stairs and hurting my foot; suddenly I heard a "mwrr" sound and saw Kitty running around the corner, as if to make sure I was OK.

In truth, though, there was a time before when I almost thought we had lost him. Some years ago Kitty went missing for fourteen days, but came back safe and sound, if not seemingly hurt and malnourished. He quickly healed up and continued living with us for many more years. During those fourteen days, I had prayed that God would bring him back, and spare him, and I had prayed it during these last few weeks of Kitty's life. However, it was not to be. This time, God would take Kitty from us. As it was with Winston, it would be Kitty's time to go.

Yet God gave Kitty to us as much as He took him from us. We got Kitty from a litter of strays when he was as tiny as the palm of your hand and still very much a baby kitten. He provided us over a decade of happiness and provided Winston with a furry companion during our many moves and life experiences. He was a gift, but when we recognize that God giveth, we have to likewise acknowledge that He taketh away (cf. Job 1:20).

It's easy for us to attribute the good in life to God and ignore the bad. When a person hears Joseph say to his brothers "you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good" (Gen 50:20), everyone leaps and embraces the "God meant it for good" part. No one wants to tackle the "you meant evil" part, because in doing so they have to recognize that the brothers' plot to sell Joseph into slavery, kill an animal, bathe Joseph's coat in its blood, and then lie to their father, causing years of grief and misery for an old man...that all of that happened by God's ordained purpose. When Joseph says God meant it for good, the it is in reference to all the evil his brothers committed against him and their father.

It's likewise easy for us to think of the crucifixion, think about how noble it was, and how grand the resurrection was for God and the church, and forget the words of Acts 4:27-28: "For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur." All that happened during the passion of our Lord, God had predestined to occur. This means that God personally arranged it, set it up, and controlled it through to the end. There was no chance for, at zero hour, Pilate to say, "Forget it, release him." There was no chance for angels to sweep in and rescue Jesus a la a kind of divine Entebbe raid. All that was to occur...the betrayal of a disciple, the rejection of the Messiah by His fellow Jews, the abuse of the Messiah at the hand of foreign soldiers, the horrifying and embarrassing execution, the sight of all this before family and friends...was predestined by God to occur. Yet it was all done by His providence for the good of His people.

When Paul writes "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God" (Rom 8:28), we forget that "all things" doesn't just mean the good. However, we often expect only good from God, and forget that oftentimes we are disciplined and chastised for our benefit (cf. Rev 3:19). We expect the "work together for good" to come before the "all things," but forget that this is not how the apostle ordered the events in his epistle.

Some might wonder if such tragedies lead me towards the temptation of atheism. The truth is, while the temptation has come and gone, it has never set foot. I credit this not to any intellectual skill or personal effort, but entirely on the grace of our Lord. God has planted within me a knowledge that He does exist, and if I know there is a Divine Being, I must reason with evil and divine responsibility as C.S. Lewis and many before him did. When dealing with tragedy, pain and God's responsibility, I often lead people through this dilemma:

When evil happens, God either: 1) did not know about it ahead of time, and therefore is neither omniscient nor omnipotent; 2) knew about it ahead of time and simply did nothing, in which case He is guilty of gross negligence; 3) knew about it ahead of time, permitted it to happen, and had no reason for it, in which case He is wicked; 4) knew about it ahead of time, permitted it to happen, and let it happen for a reason.

The reason, of course, that "good" it was meant for that Joseph spoke about, may not become apparent - it didn't become apparent for Joseph until several years later. It may not be until decades that I learn what good comes from this, but I do believe that God permits all things for good. I am not an open theist, I do not believe in process theology and I am not a hyper-synergist who believes God only intercedes in the affairs of man when it might be a decent time to do so. I believe all things serve a purpose, and I believe God knows all events and is sovereign over all. Most of all, I know that in the end, no matter what happens, I will be like the wise thief on the cross: a justified sinner in paradise with our Lord, who was crucified for me that I might be there to glorify the bounteous nature of His grace.

Soli Deo Gloria.

God's Neverending Providence

Recently Kansas City has been hit by some serious snow. Having lived in the southeast eight years of my life or so, I was familiar with snow...but I'll admit I wasn't fully prepared for just how much snow would hit Kansas City. Things like black ice, sludgy mush and other fun bits of nature proved to be a renewing headache as well.

The worst aspect is that...well...my car isn't exactly designed for weather. I drive a 2010 Kia Rio5, a little car that, despite being manufactured by a company whose parent country is often filled with snow, doesn't seem apt to handle winter weather very well. As such, my trip home found my car literally sliding downhill on the neighborhood road and into a ditch. My housemate was kind enough to come out and try to help me move it, but ultimately decided to leave it overnight. This was decided based on the fact that the house was just down the street and housemate's brother-in-law was coming the next day with truck and chains.

There were a lot of other things going on in my life at the time - on top of the fact that I had had no meal that day due to being called in to work early (and forgetting my wallet at home...) - so overall...it was very stressful. To the point where I just wanted to lay in bed and pretend nothing was wrong. I prayed to God that everything would work out, that things wouldn't be as bad. I started to worry too much, find things to worry about.

In the end, housemate's brother-in-law came with his truck and we managed to get it out of the ditch and into the road. The battery had died overnight, but with a little juice from the jumpers the Rio5 was up and running again, and I managed to get it up the hill and back home. I was more worried about getting home tonight after work, with the roads icing (temperature at 2:00 AM is expected to get to below zero), but I again managed to get home on time and safe and sound.

I recognize to many (especially those who got a car totaled in a blizzard) this entire post may seem like making a lot out of a little. I'm sure ten years down the road something worse will happen or I'll simply look back and realized there was nothing to really worry about. However, I think all things have a purpose, good and bad. Times like this remind us that, contrary to our minds, we are not in charge. We do not control the weather, we do not control all the incidents that happen in our life, and we are most certainly not the sole masters of our destiny. All things happen by the sovereign hand of God and, as Charles Spurgeon once said, every dust particle is moved by God's hand. Yet just as much as we treasure the good that comes our way, we must be ready to embrace the trials and tribulations we face as well. We must be reminded that God is still sovereign in all things, and ultimately we need to trust in Him for all things.

Soli Deo Gloria!