Understanding the Providence of God

 

 

What is the providence of God? The providence of God is God's silent or unseen working in the world through various means, including the works of the Holy Spirit, of nature, of men, of angels, and even of the devil and his demons; or a combination of these, to accomplish His eternal will and purposes in the world, and in the lives of His people. God also uses circumstances in life, which He orchestrates to accomplish His will. Circumstances are a combination of natural and supernatural elements that cause predetermined events in God's will to happen in time.

 

Providence is not the same as fate. Fate is usually a word used by the world, and means the predetermination of things by forces or powers other than the true God. The so-called gods of Greek mythology, for example, were believed to control men's fate, usually in an arbitrary and negative way. Today fate is considered by unregenerate men to be nothing more than blind chance. This is all that the atheistic world can mean by fate, seeing they don't believe in God or any other supernatural power, except maybe “mother nature”, which many humanists deify today.

 

But providence, on the other hand, is controlled and directed by the sovereign, all-powerful, ever present, all-knowing, all-wise God of heaven, who works all things in the world after the counsel of His own will.

 

So in this message I want us to see ten aspects of God's providence that hopefully will help us to understand it better and appreciate it more, as we live in a world that seems to be full of nothing but chaos and confusion.

 

 

1. First, God's providence is sovereign… 

 

The sovereignty of God means that God is in absolute control of all things, and therefore He does whatsoever He wills with all of His creation…

 

Isaiah 14:27 For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul [it]? and his hand [is] stretched out, and who shall turn it back?

 

Isaiah 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times [the things] that are not [yet] done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

 

Daniel 4:35 And all the inhabitants of the earth [are] reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and [among] the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

 

Ephesians 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

 

So we can see from these and many more similar passages that all of God’s works are sovereign, and therefore all His works of providence are sovereign. Bear in mind that among His many attributes God is love, God is holy, God is righteous, God is just, God is good, and God is merciful. Therefore God's works of providence are never arbitrary, capricious, or vindictive.

 

 

2. Secondly, God's providence cannot be changed…

 

Because God's providence is sovereign, there is no changing it…

 

Job 11:10 If he cut off, and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder him?

 

Job 12:14 Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.

 

Ecclesiastes 3:14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth [it], that [men] should fear before him.

 

Acts 15:18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.

 

So God's works of providence cannot be stopped, changed, or altered in any way.

 

 

3. Thirdly, God’s providential works cannot be figured out by men…

 

God's providence is unseen and unknown to man. No man can figure out by any means what God is doing in the world. Even His own people don't know.  Now, we know God's general long term plans and purposes as revealed to us in His prophetic Word. We know from His Word what His general will is for His people and His Churches. But we don't know the secret things of His providence…

 

Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret [things belong] unto the Lord our God: but those [things which are] revealed [belong] unto us and to our children for ever, that [we] may do all the words of this law.

 

Ecclesiastes 8:17 Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek [it] out, yet he shall not find [it]; yea further; though a wise [man] think to know [it], yet shall he not be able to find [it].

 

Ecclesiastes 3:11 He hath made every [thing] beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

 

Beloved, it is not man's place to try and figure out the providential works of God, but to simply, and humbly submit to them.

 

 

4. Fourthly, God's providence isn't always logical… 

 

As rational thinking people we want to always find a logical explanation for things that happen in life. But God's works of providence are not always logical to our minds…

 

Ecclesiastes 7:15 All [things] have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just [man] that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked [man] that prolongeth [his life] in his wickedness.

 

Ecclesiastes 8:14 There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just [men], unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked [men], to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also [is] vanity.

 

Job 21:7-9 Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?

8 Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes.

9 Their houses [are] safe from fear, neither [is] the rod of God upon them.

 

God's people have seen over the years that the wicked often prosper, and the righteous suffer. Yet we know that God is in control. And God allows it, and sometimes God even causes it! Now this all seems illogical to our natural minds. But be of good cheer, beloved, the righteous and loving God of heaven is in control, and He knows what He is doing! We can be sure that He will always do right even if it doesn't make sense to us at the time.

 

 

5. Fifthly, death is providential and can not be prevented… 

 

Did you know that death is a work of God’s providence? It is…

 

Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

 

Unless we have been appointed by God to live until the rapture, we all have a divine appointment with death. God has made that appointment for us. We don't know when it is, but one thing is for sure, there is nothing that we can do about it!

 

Ecclesiastes 8:8 [There is] no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither [hath he] power in the day of death: and [there is] no discharge in [that] war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.

 

Death is unavoidable. It is appointed by the providence God Himself, and we don't know when our time to die is. So we would all be wise to prepare to meet God. And there is only one way to do that, and that way is to come to Jesus believing in Him as our Lord and Saviour, that He died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and rose again from the dead on the third day for our justification!

 

 

6. Sixthly, God's providence includes evil things… 

 

By evil I mean the “bad things”, as we call them. I don't have to tell anyone that life is full of troubles. Well, beloved, God's Word assures us of that…

 

Job 5:7 Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.

 

Job 14:1 Man [that is] born of a woman [is] of few days, and full of trouble.

 

Job 9:12 Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? who will say unto him, What doest thou?

 

Job 11:10 If he cut off, and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder him?

 

We might be tempted to question God's providence. I'm sure that many have done so. But the child of God should be encouraged, and look beyond the troubles and sufferings of this life, to our eternal hope…

 

Romans 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time [are] not worthy [to be compared] with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

 

 

7. Seventhly, God wants His people to accept His works of providence…

 

If we are saved we know that God loves us. He has our best at heart. So, we should accept His works of providence, and trust that He knows what is best for us…

 

Ecclesiastes 7:13-14 Consider the work of God: for who can make [that] straight, which he hath made crooked?

14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.

 

In other words, in the good times rejoice, and in the bad times don't be angry with God, but accept what He has dealt to us, and don't charge Him foolishly. Notice what Job did and said after he suffered the loss of all his earthly possessions, including his ten children…

 

Job 1:20-22 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,

21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

 

 

8. Eighthly, we shouldn’t complain about God's providence… 

 

This goes along with our last point. Sometimes we are just like the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt. When trials come, and life gets hard, we too want to murmur and complain against God!

 

Exodus 17:3 And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore [is] this [that] thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?

 

Moses told them that they didn't murmur against him, but against God. God help us not to murmur and complain against Him in our trials. There is nothing that displeases the Lord more than when His people murmur and complain against Him. And when we murmur and complain about our circumstances, and our troubles and trials, we are in reality complaining against God!

 

 

9. Ninthly, the works of God's providence will all come out right in the end… 

 

After all is said and done, everything is going to work out for good. God will balance the books, so to speak. Wicked men will pay their dues, as it were. And the righteous will be eternally blessed and rewarded in due time…

 

Ecclesiastes 8:11-13 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

12 Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his [days] be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him:

13 But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong [his] days, [which are] as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.

 

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

 

This might be very difficult for us to understand when we are going through extreme suffering, but we can trust the Lord that all things are working together for our good, if we love God and are among the called according to His purpose!

 

 

10. Tenthly, and finally, understanding God's providence will help God's people to be content…

 

It has been said that there is power in knowledge. Well, that is certainly true when it comes to the providence of God. When we properly understand God's providence, we can be content in knowing that God has a will and purpose for all things that He allows to happen in our lives, and that these things are working together for our good - even when we don't understand how!

 

Philippians 4:11-13 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, [therewith] to be content.

12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

 

1 Timothy 6:6-8 But godliness with contentment is great gain.

7 For we brought nothing into [this] world, [and it is] certain we can carry nothing out.

8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

 

 

Conclusion… 

 

In conclusion, I want to add one more very important thought to our message on “understanding God's providence”, and that is, it is by God's providence that He leads us to Jesus.

 

By the goodness of God's providence He leads us to repentance, by revealing to our hearts that we are sinners condemned by God's law, and sentenced to die an eternal death for our sins.

 

And, it is by the goodness of God's providence that He brings us to Jesus the Saviour, where by faith we can find forgiveness for our sins, and receive the gift of eternal life.

 

Lost person, is the providence of God working in your life to bring you to salvation in Jesus Christ? If so, you can't fight it. You might try, but you can't win against the sovereign grace of God. You might as well lay down your arms of rebellion and surrender to Jesus now. Don't waste any more of your time trying to fight it, when you can be making your life count for eternity by serving Jesus in His Church!