The Providence of God

The providence of God is something many Christians take for granted. But if they try to explain it, the description is often ambiguous, speculative, and uncertain. What makes it even more difficult is that the only time the English word providence is used in the Bible, it is referring to a human governor (Felix), not to God. Does that mean there is no such thing as divine providence? Of course not, but it does mean we need to be careful how we talk about it. So we are going to look at providence and see what the Bible says about it.

The Difference between Providence and Miracles

• Miracles – God’s direct intervention in His creation in which He suspends natural laws
  • The Bible is filled with examples – ten plagues (Exodus 7-12), the sun standing still (Joshua 10:12-14), Jesus walking on water (Matthew 14:22-33), Jesus’ resurrection (Matthew 28:1-10), and many more
  • However, miracles like these are not performed today – their purpose has been fulfilled (cf. Hebrews 2:4)
• Providence – God’s care for man using the laws established in creation
  • Commonly cited examples – Joseph (Genesis 50:20), Esther (4:14), Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:17)
  • However, the difficulty in citing these as examples for how providence works today is that they involved something miraculous – Joseph had dreams revealing God’s plan, then later the plagues led to the exodus from Egypt; Daniel interpreted dreams, then the king turned into a beast; when there wasn’t an obvious miracle with Esther, Mordecai simply said, “Who knows?”

What We Learn about Providence from Felix

• The only time the English word is used, it refers to the providence of a human governor (Acts 24:2)
  • The same Greek word is used in Romans 13:14 – “make no provision for the flesh…”
  • A form of the word is used in 1 Timothy 5:8 – “if ayone does not provide for his own…”
  • The word means forethought or provident care (Thayer)
  • We could describe this as providing what is needed to accomplish some purpose
• Why did Tertullus praise Felix? – “by your providence reforms are being carried out” (Acts 24:2)
  • The purpose being carried out were the reforms
  • Felix received the credit – not because he personally did them, but he provided what was necessary for them to be carried out; this is true of any civil leader
  • What did Felix (or any other leader) provide? – instructions, resources, incentives

What This Teaches Us about God’s Providence

• This framework of instructions, resources, and incentives helps explain how God’s providence works – He does not have to be directly involved working miracles as He once did; but He still gets the credit
• In fact, we see this framework in the providence shown in the life of Joseph (Genesis 50:20)
  • Instructions – implied in the dreams (Genesis 41:1-8, 14-16, 33-36)
  • Resources – years of plenty (Genesis 41:47-49)
  • Incentives – to save his family (Genesis 45:5-7, 10-11)
• How does God’s providence work in our lives?
  • Instructions – found in His word (2 Timothy 3:16-17); equips us for good works (cf. Ephesians 2:10); good is accomplished (Galatians 6:10; Ephesians 4:28) when people follow God’s instructions
  • Resources – found in His blessings; physical (Genesis 8:22; Acts 14:17) and spiritual (2 Peter 1:3; Hebrews 10:24-25); these are used to accomplish His purpose to bless us
  • Incentives – there is a reward for labor, materially (Proverbs 14:23; 1 Timothy 5:18) and eternally (Revelation 14:13; Matthew 7:21)

Conclusion

• We cannot know everything that God could be doing today (cf. Deuteronomy 29:29 – “secret things”)
• But we can know what He has provided us – in His word, in His creation, and in His promises
• Instead of wondering (“Did God do this?”), we can be assured (“Yes, God provided for this”) without having to speculate about the process behind it