Spiritual reflections on Providence Chapel, Rowley….
The name of the chapel is ‘Providence’, and providence refers to God’s wise governance of the world. Providence has to do with the belief that God exercises a divine, wise, sovereign and benevolent control over all things, and though often His ways are perplexing and beyond our comprehension, nevertheless, goodness and mercy, truth and justice, are in ultimate control. The providence of God is the antidote to believing that the world is governed by chance, and that nothing ultimately in the world has any meaning or purpose.
The hymn writer speaking of God’s providence sums this up in the lines:
It’s darkness dense is but
A radiant light;
Its oft – perplexing ways
Are ordered right.
Soon all its winding paths
Will end, and then the tale
Of wonder shall be told
Beyond the veil.
Providence Chapel is solidly built, said to be built on foundations of Rowley Rag, and one of the longest standing buildings in Rowley today.
Our Lord told the parable of the wise and foolish builders. The one built his house upon the rock, and the other on the sand. The first was wise the second was foolish.
In the parable winds and the waves beat upon the house of the foolish builder and it fell and great was the fall thereof. The same winds and waves beat upon the house of the wise builder and the house stood.
All of us need firm foundations for our life because there will inevitably be storms and tempests, troubles and trials, sicknesses and deaths that will threaten to overcome us. The man or woman who builds on the rock, which is Jesus Christ and what he did on Calvary to save His people from their sins, will stand, whatever comes, even on the day of the final judgement of God.
Providence Chapel has seen from its vantage point on Rowley Hill, many changes in the surrounding area.
At one time, across the road from the chapel stood ‘Bell End Colliery’. It is said that the coal was dug from the ground by digging out a bell-shaped excavation, and hence the name Bell Colliery.
There are many changes in this world, but there are some things that do not change. One thing that does not change is human nature, fashions may change, knowledge may increase as we build on the experience of those who have gone before us, but essential human nature is the same in all ages. The fundamental needs of the human heart, mind and soul do not change. Fundamental truth doesn’t change, fundamentally wrong, doesn’t change. What is morally right has always been the case, what is morally wrong likewise does not change, whatever some today would have us believe.
Men and women today ask the same perplexing questions regarding the meaning of life as Job did thousands of years ago. Men and women seek for love and affection as our forebears did years ago. Men and women seek relief from a nagging and accusing conscience, as did Adam and Eve, at the very beginning of the centuries. Some things never change. The fact of the matter is that all men and women were made to find their highest happiness and bliss in God, and this will always be the case. While men run and hide from God, they can never ultimately find fulfilment and happiness. All of us have rebelled and sinned against God, and we can never be at peace in such a condition. Jesus Christ, the Son of God came into the world to reconcile men and women to God, through his sacrifice on the Cross. It will always be the case that those who come to him, He will in no wise cast out.
Most of us live today in what we call a secular age, i.e. a God-rejecting age. However, what most of us, I believe, are beginning to see quite clearly, is the failure of secularism. It is now high time for a change, that is, turning back to the God of our forebears, through the mercies and merits of our Saviour Jesus Christ.
As a hymn that some of us used to sing at school puts it:
He died that we might be forgiven,
He died to make us good,
That we might go at last to heaven,
Saved by his precious blood.
