Providence

Have you ever thought about God’s Providence?

From the beginning of 2024, we’ve been working through the the Ten “P’s” of Trusting in God to Overcome Fear. This month the topic is the Providence of God.

Have you ever thought about God’s Providence? Have you struggled to understand it’s meaning? I must admit, I learned a lot preparing this devotional. And I hope you learn something about it as well.

Providence. It’s an interesting word. From the Latin “providere”, it means to foresee. In Greek, it’s “pronoia” and it means forethought. Conceptually, it implies a future end, a goal and a plan to get to that end. In daily life, it denotes the preparation that’s necessary to get the intended result. Since I’m somewhat anal, I think of it as the steps to achieving a goal. For me, it is: set an end goal, make a list, work through each item on the list to get the job done. But in God’s timeline, He preserves and governs all things and providence is used to describe His care in terms of general and special providences.

God’s general providence extends to the natural world, the animal world, and the general affairs of man. Let’s take each on separately.

Natural World

He causes the grass to grow for the cattle,
And vegetation for the service of man,
That he may bring forth food from the earth, Psalm 104:14

Two other passages that describe God’s providence in the natural world are Psalm 135:5-7 and Acts 14:17.

Animal World

Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Matthew 6: 26 (one of my husband’s favorite verses.)

Another two passages that reflect God’s providence in the animal world are Psalm 104:21:29 and Matthew 10:29.

The Affairs of Man, in general

And He changes the times and the seasons;
He removes kings and raises up kings;
He gives wisdom to the wise
And knowledge to those who have understanding. Daniel 2:21

(This is the verse I cling to when an election year rolls around. We must do our due diligence and vote, but ultimately, God is sovereign. And He will allow leaders to come into power or take that power away to fulfill His ultimate plan. And this is where God’s sovereignty comes into play. He is the ultimate authority over everything and everyone.)

Another two verses that reflect God’s providence in the affairs of man are Job 12:23 and Matthew 5:45.

God’s exercises special and particular providence over and on behalf of those whose wills are in harmony with His divine will, meaning those who are righteous. The scriptures teach that God uses more special care and order in the lives of those who are spiritually good versus the over those who have no fear of God. For example, this well-known verse explains it perfectly:

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

Other verses reflecting God’s special providence are Psalm 37:23, Proverbs 3:6, and Matthew 6:33.

However, there is a need for caution in defining what is God’s providence in our lives and what is not. We cannot assume God’s judgment in our lives. Here are two opposing examples:

1. If bad things happen, the person must be evil… which is totally untrue. Think of a person who is righteous who has been diagnosed with stage IV cancer. It could be God’s plan to use that person’s illness for His glory or to bring family and friends to salvation. From a Biblical perspective, think of Job. He lost his family and friends, his livelihood, and ultimately his health, but his faith never wavered, and he was a righteous man.
2. If something good happens those who experience it, they must be righteous. Also not true. There are exceptions in the Bible. Good things often happen to the wicked. Two examples are Psalm 73:3-12 and Job 21:7-13. On the surface, it looks like they have it all… but do they? They may be on their way to hell and don’t even know it. So, pray for them if you know someone like this.

And we cannot be certain if something is providential. It could be just a coincidence. And we can, and often do, misread a situation and our conclusions are faulty. What is even worse, is when a person is ignorant to God’s revealed will, meaning the scriptures. We might conclude something is right (because it seems successful), but it may be contrary to what God has spoken on the subject. Searching and knowing the scriptures is one of the most important things we can do to know God’s character and His will.

So, how do we move forward with the prospect of God’s Providence?

1. Possess the right perspective. Mordecai wondered if Esther had been placed in the position of Queen by the hand of God, but he did not presume that was actually the case. (And we can mirror Mordecai when we are faced with a similar question.)
2. Remain open to the possibility that God’s will may be different than we thought. We can only be certain about God’s will as it is revealed in the scriptures. The “ifs” in life are uncertain, because God gives us free will, so we have permission to choose. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that our choices are in line with God’s will.
3. In all things give thanks. For everything. It’s easy to give thanks for the good things, but do we do it? It’s important to thank God for those things… like our health, finances, home, relationships. But the hard things in our lives… the bad things, like health and financial woes come to mind. Those are a little more challenging. Perhaps God is trying to get your attention and direct your path in another direction. Do we recognize that we need to pivot from the side of the road and get on the straight and narrow?
4. Leave the ultimate determination to God. We don’t have to interpret every circumstance in our lives as being the providence of God. Many times, what is happening may be the result of good or bad judgment on our part and God didn’t have anything to do with it. Remember, He allows us to fail, and he allows us to succeed, but He may intervene if things get out of hand. I often look at this verse when things seem to be way out of line…

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13

There are 17 more verses in the Old Testament and New Testament that deal with this concept. I challenge you to find them!

Let’s take a look at examples of God’s providence from individuals in the Bible.

Joseph. Here was an example of something bad happening to someone good. God’s hand was upon Joseph even before he was thrown into prison. Think about when his brothers sold him as a slave, when years later Joseph is second in command in Egypt. He understood God’s providence.

But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Genesis 50:20

Esther. She was placed in a position of power for a specific reason, but Mordecai did not know for sure until after the entire population of Israel was saved from annihilation. It was at that time that he saw God’s providence and glory. Even when Esther debated what she should do, God spoke to her through Mordecai…

“For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place…” Esther 4:14

(Esther is my favorite book of the Old Testament. Her courage and the salvation of God’s people touches my heart every single time I read it.)

Paul, the Apostle. He was a staunch seeker of Christian Jews. His goal was to bring them to justice by murdering them, but Jesus took a hold of him on that road to Damascus and turned his life around. It didn’t mean he wouldn’t suffer, he did. But God had plans for him and even in his darkest moments, when the “thorn in his side” caused him grief or when he was thrown into prison, God gave him what he needed to move forward.

But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.” Acts 23:11

In conclusion, God’s providence is a wonderful blessing because it means we don’t have to worry about the cares of this world when we put our trust in Him. He has our backs. It may not seem like it at times, but Romans 8:28 says it all. And in all things, we must give Him thanks because He sees the beginning and the end. He knows what potholes and craters we can fall into, so allowing Him to sort out our timeline can be the best thing we can do for ourselves. It is not easy to wait on the Lord, and sometimes it can be downright uncomfortable, even miserable. God doesn’t need our help to guide our lives, He created the universe. Just let go and let God. He is in control. Trust Him.

Have you ever stepped back and just let God take over because in your own frailty, you could do nothing else? What happened? I’d love to hear your story.

First published in Seralynn Lewis’ Red Hearts Newsletter, Volume 24-16.