What Is the Providence of God? BY William Boekestein for Core Christianity
(27) Q. What do you understand by the providence of God?
A. Providence is the almighty and ever present power of God by which God upholds, as with his hand, heaven and earth and all creatures,and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty—all things, in fact, come to us not by chancebut by his fatherly hand.(28) Q. How does the knowledge of God’s creation and providence help us?
A. We can be patient in adversity, thankful in prosperity, and for the future we can have good confidence in our faithful God and Father that no creature will separate us from his love. For all creatures are so completely in his hand that without his will they can neither move nor be moved.
Every doctrine of the Christian faith is essential. But they are not equally transparent in our lives. Apart from a theological discussion, I might not know your position on the Trinity, or the virgin birth. But in a very short time, no matter what the conversation topic, most of us expose our understanding of providence. We get angry when crossed. We worry when uncertain. We complain at inconveniences. We boast at success. Indecisiveness, shame, and impatience are examples of giveaways of a low view of providence. God wants something better for us.
The best place to start understanding providence is creation. God “still upholds and rules” everything he has made “by his eternal counsel and providence” (LD 9). The God whose hands formed the sea and the dry ground (Ps. 95:5) continues to shape what happens in those realms by his “mighty arm” (Ps. 89:13). He still providentially holds in his hands (Rev. 1:20) the church he led through past danger (Exod. 13:3; Neh. 1:10) so that God’s people endure trials but are never overcome.
The Truth of Providence
God’s providence is his “almighty and ever present,” upholding and ruling power. God’s strength is not theoretically unlimited; he actually exercises his might over everything. God’s power is comprehensive and inescapable. “He himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he” has “determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place … he is actually not far from each one of us, for ‘in him we live and move and have our being’” (Acts 17:25–28).
Now is your chance to support Gospel News Network.
We love helping others and believe that’s one of the reasons we are chosen as Ambassadors of the Kingdom, to serve God’s children. We look to the Greatest Commandment as our Powering force.
