The Monday After • Oct 27, 2025
Providence is Love
Darren Carlson
We are easily discouraged. We don't see what God is doing. But take heart and let me encourage you.
In Acts 13:12 we read:
Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
Sergius Paulus is the first recorded convert on Paul and Barnabas's missionary journeys. When did that conversion begin to take shape? Trace the story backward.
In Paphos, Paul confronts Elymas the magician, a sign is performed, and the governor believes (Acts 13:6–12). But before that, Paul and Barnabas had to sail to Cyprus and hike the island. Before that, they were set apart and sent out by the church at Antioch as the Spirit led (Acts 13:1–3). Before that, the Antioch church was fasting and praying, asking God what they should do. Before that, Barnabas had fetched Saul from Tarsus, and for a year they taught a growing church in Antioch where "the disciples were first called Christians" (Acts 11:25–26). Before that, Saul himself had been converted on the Damascus road and then spent years in obscurity. And before that, Stephen was martyred by the hands of Saul; persecution scattered ordinary believers out of Jerusalem so that some went to Antioch and preached the Lord Jesus (Acts 8:1–4; 11:19–21).
Now ask: would anyone standing by Stephen's broken body have said, "This grief will lead, in God's time, to a Roman governor in Cyprus bowing the knee to Jesus"? Of course not. We have tunnel vision. But God does not. He "works all things according to the counsel of his will" (Eph. 1:11). What looks like a dead end becomes a doorway. What seems like the triumph of evil becomes the seedbed of mission.
So, friend, be still. "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth" (Ps. 46:10). Your life right now may feel like you are standing over Stephen's dead body —confusing and painful. But the Lord is never idle. He weaves ten thousand threads you cannot see. As the old hymn reminds us:
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
but trust Him for His grace;
behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
Don't be discouraged. God is doing a million things; you might be aware of five, and you may misread four. Yet, His purposes stand.
Take heart. The same Lord who astonished Sergius Paulus is at work still—and He will be exalted.
In 2008, my first job out of seminary didn't go well, and I needed to find work. I had two small kids, a thinning bank account, and no clear plan. I applied to a Christian school in Connecticut, flew out for the interview, and left confident I'd be hired. Then the phone rang: "We're going a different direction." A hard no.
A few months later, I pitched the idea of Training Leaders International to Tom Steller. TLI launched—and my life took a turn I never could have scripted.
I hadn't thought about that school in years—until last week. Driving from my hotel to a conference where I've been invited to speak, I glanced left and saw the school sitting right there on the road: Christian Heritage Academy in Fairfield, Connecticut.
If my first job out of seminary had gone well, I'd never have applied there. If that interview had turned into a yes, Training Leaders International likely would not exist. Without TLI, the people who now enrich my life would not be part of my life. The book released last Monday would not exist either—I would have no stories to tell. Jesus in Athens and my PhD research would not exist either!
And then there's Jamie Sipsma. I met Jamie through the search firm that eventually brought me to Bozeman. Without that connection, there'd be no invitation from Jamie to speak at this very conference in Fairfield. No drive past that school. No fresh reminder that what felt like a closed door was, in fact, a guided detour.
God's providence didn't just redirect my career; it rewrote my calling and really my entire life.
In 2021, D.A. Carson called John Piper’s Providence "perhaps his most important book so far." I think that means you should probably go and wrestle with it.
Providence is God's love on display. It is the outworking of his sovereign plan and care.
Go buy it or download it for free here.
Thanks for checking in.
Sign up here to receive Darren Carlson's The Monday After email. This weekly newsletter is designed to encourage your faith and share inspiring stories of what God is doing around the world. Each edition features a short devotional, a story that will give you a glimpse of His work in unexpected places, and a resource you might find helpful.
4.13.26Guard Rails on Calling Someone Divisive
Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned. If you know me, you know I spend a lot of time thinking about what unity actually […]
4.6.26What was Judas Thinking?
There is something uniquely unsettling about Judas's betrayal. This was not a stranger in the crowd. This was a man who had walked with Jesus for three years—shared meals, witnessed miracles, and even performed them. When he finally made his move, he did it with a kiss. "The one I will […]
3.30.26Influencers In the Flesh
Do you know the people who have influenced you most? Stop and think about it honestly. If you made a list, would the names on it belong to people who actually know you—who know your name, your failures, your kitchen, your kids? For most of us, the honest answer is uncomfortable. […]
3.16.26The Death of Gentle Parenting
Maybe those strict parents weren't so bad after all. For the past decade, a particular parenting mood has seeped into the air: be less authoritative, more collaborative. Give kids space. Negotiate everything. Process every emotion endlessly. Never "rupture connection." Therapists and self-proclaimed experts — thirty-year-old moms with one child and […]
