Without a biblical worldview, there is no understanding of evil's real and present danger and the need to restrain it. When faced with evil, political leaders often prescribe legislative, regulatory, economic, or education remedies, believing that the undesired behavior can be overcome with better programs and laws. Or individuals speak of their own difficult situations and ascribe the blame or the responsibility to God when the cure is God, but the cause is not.

God has provided a way to be saved from this broken world. He desires your salvation and not your destruction. God has no part in sin.

From this passage, the Bible declares two fundamental truths that God does not tempt toward sin and that all that is good is from God.

No one desires to be broken. No one wants to suffer the consequences of sin. If we had our desires, we would skip through life without consequences. However, there is grace in brokenness.

In Genesis 28:10-22, Jacob is broken. He had succeeded in his schemes against his father and brother, but he had lost everything he had hoped for. We find him not as the favored son receiving his father's wealth and blessing or becoming his family's leader but alone and destitute. He has no home. He has no family. He is uncertain about his future. And he is likely fearful that all is lost.

Is this where you are today? Are you struggling under the weight and brokenness of your sin? Have you heard of the grace of God and the promises He has made but wonder if they apply to you? Jacob's life is far from perfect. However, in this moment, he would hear from the Lord and be encouraged by the precious promises of God. You are not alone, God's provisions are sure, and God is in control.

Esther chapter 3 is a very unsettling moment. In practical terms, things have gone from bad to worst. Yet, in this very bleak moment, there is a beautiful testimony to the providence of God. Even while Mordecai and Esther may be unaware, God is providing for the deliverance of His people. In this passage, we see how God is providentially working through His perfect timing, the opportunities to prosper, and preparing for the future.

Often on the 4th of July, to my children’s chagrin, I read the Declaration of Independence to the family. It is a fascinating document on so many levels but what always strikes me is the consequence that each signer understood they were taking on when they signed this document. Addressed to the king of Great Brittan they declared among other things “that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown.” Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, and George Walton of Georgia, along with 53 others knew that with their signatures they were igniting a conflict that very well may cost them everything.

It is true that many of the founding fathers held religious views that were not faithful to the testimony of scripture. Many of them were deists and universalists but not all. However errant their theology was it is right to say that all livened in an error when even the most secular saw the world through a biblical worldview. This worldview gives understanding to the last line of the declaration. It reads:

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Today, it is common to hear people speak of the universe controlling their lives. G. K. Chesterton is credited with saying “When men stop believing in God they don't believe in nothing; they believe in anything.” The Bible does not teach that we are subject to the random whim of an impersonal universe. The Bible teaches that God created the world and is actively involved in the working out of His enteral will in the world and among His creation. This is the idea of divine providence – that is that God is for us.

Paul, in Romans 8:28, declares this amazing truth that God is actively working out all things for good for those called according to His purpose.