Providence

We will begin by defining terminology. The root meaning of the word providence is, “to see in advance or beforehand,” or “to provide for.” Yet, even with those phrases giving providence a description, it still does not fully convey the deep meaning of the doctrine of providence. The doctrine is much more than that God is a spectator of human events; He is not the clock maker who watches it tick away. It also contains more than a mere reference to His foreknowledge.

During the meeting that would produce the Westminster Confession in the seventeenth century defined providence like this: “God, the great Creator of all things, doth uphold, direct, dispose and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by his most wise and holy providence, according to his infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of his own will, to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy” (Westminster Confession of Faith 5.1).

What God creates, He also sustains. The universe is not only dependent on God for its origin, but also for its continuity to exist. The universe can neither exist or operate by its own power. God upholds all things by His power. It is in Him that we live, and move, and have our being. The central point of the doctrine of providence is the stress on God’s governing of the universe. God is sovereign and He rules over His creation with absolute sovereignty and authority; to do anything less than that means He is not sovereign. He governs everything that comes to pass, from the greatest to the least. There is nothing happening that is beyond the scope of His sovereign providential government. He makes the rain to fall, the sun to shine, and the process of ants moving to and from their colony; down to the minute detail, He governs it all. He raises up kingdoms and brings them down. He numbers the hairs on our heads and the days of our lives.

There is a crucial difference between God’s providence and fortune, fate, or luck. That key difference is found in the personal character of God. Fortune is blind while God is all-seeing, Fate is impersonal while God is Father. Luck is dumb while God can speak. There are no blind impersonal forces at work in human history. All is brought to pass by the invisible hand of providence. In a universe governed by God there are no chance events. Indeed, there is no such thing as chance. Chance is a word we use to describe mathematical possibilities. But chance has no power because it has no being. Chance is not an entity that can influence reality. Chance is not a thing. It is nothing.

Another aspect of providence is called concurrence. Concurrence refers to the interconnecting actions of God and human beings. We are creatures with a will of our own. We make things happen. Yet the causal power we exert is secondary. God’s providence stands over and above our actions. He works out His will through the actions of human wills, without violating the freedom of those human wills. The clearest example of the concurrence of God’s providence we find in Scripture has to deal with Joseph and his brothers. Though Joseph’s brothers incurred true guilt through their treachery against him, the providence of God was working even through their sin. Joseph said to his brothers, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” (Genesis 50:20).

God’s redemptive providence can work through even the most dubious and diabolical actions. The worse offense ever committed by a human being was the betrayal of Christ by Judas. Yet the death of Christ was no accident of history. It was according to the determinate counsel of God. Judas’ act of wickedness helped bring the best thing that ever happened in history, the Atonement. It is not fortuitous that we refer to that day in history as “Good” Friday.