The Scripture describes God as working providentially in specific ways. These ways seem to reflect his orderliness, in contrast to the mythological gods, who generally act impulsively, selfishly, and even without regard to the consequences of their actions.
Preserving Creation
God is committed to maintaining what he has created, in an orderly state, even in its brokenness. When we create systems, we aim for simplicity; the more complicated something is, the more critical points of failure there are, and the more likely they are to grind to a halt. God has created the most complex physical thing imaginable—the universe—and even though we have broken it, it continues to run with remarkable smoothness.
After the most violent upheaval in history—the Flood—God says to Noah,
While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease (Ge 8.22).
For all its brokenness, it runs like a clock, and the sun will indeed come up tomorrow. He has kept that promise.
Providing for Creation
The Psalmist describes the sea’s creatures as waiting on the Lord for their food:
25 There is the sea, great and broad, In which are swarms without number, Animals both small and great. 26 There the ships move along, And Leviathan, which You have formed to sport in it. 27 They all wait for You To give them their food in due season. 28 You give to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good (Ps 104.25-28).
Now, we know that animals think constantly about what they’re going to eat next. I suspect that the Psalmist is describing not so much the psychological processes of fish as the simple fact that God provides what they will eat. All earth’s creatures, in all its varied biomes, are provided for, often in remarkable ways. (Check out the anglerfish sometime.) And again, this despite that fact that we have broken what he has created.
Directing Natural Events
God most famously sent a three-year drought at the request of the prophet Elijah (1K 17.1-2; Jam 5.17-18), and there are references to other actions as well (2K 8.1; Is 50.2-3). One prophet describes God as having his “way in the whirlwind and in the storm” (Na 1.3), and Jesus demonstrates that fact for his disciples directly (Mk 4.35-41).
Directing Historical Events
Paul tells the Athenians that God has determined where peoples shall live as well as when they shall come into existence and when they shall disappear (Ac 17.26-27). I grew up in Washington State, where the state’s political and social culture is directed by its topography: the Cascade Mountains cause lots of rainfall in the west, and the resulting rainshadow makes the east a desert. Today western Washington is reliably liberal Democrat, and the irrigating dirt farmers in the east are reliably conservative Republican. And never the twain shall meet. :-)
Of course, God also directs in more, um, direct ways. He sets up kings and takes them down again (Da 2.21), and he works in innumerable other ways to direct the outcomes of history.
Directing Personal Events
David tells us that “the steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD” (Ps 37.23), and his wiser son notes that “a man’s heart devises his way, but the LORD directs his steps” (Pr 16.9). We see God’s providential direction of human choices and outcomes throughout the Scripture, and we see it in our own lives as well. I’ve recounted one personal example here.
There’s much to learn from all this. We learn that God is involved; in theological terms, he’s immanent as well as transcendent. And that means that he cares—something that opens up the possibility of personal relationship, and a positive one at that. It also begets confidence that God will direct our own lives in love and grace, and also in power—his will in fact will be done in us. That’s a liberating thought.
I think we’d benefit from some specific examples of God’s providential working. The next few posts will dip into that.
Part 3: Joseph, For Example | Part 4: And Naomi | Part 5: And Esther | Part 6: And the Seed of the Woman
Photo by Katie Moum on Unsplash
David Anderson says
Thanks Dan! The Directing Personal Events section was helpful.
Donna says
This makes me even sadder.The love of my life, my husband, abandoned me and divorced me and married my best friend. I haven’t recovered from it. Ive sunken into deep depression. From your blog….was this God’s providence? I’ve struggled to trust God now since this happened. My joy has completely left. Where was God when I prayed and begged him to fix it all and He didn’t? I’m alone and working 3 jobs to keep a roof over my head. My ex, his new wife and myself all are born again Christians. We all did ministry together. He would have never met her if it wasn’t for me. I was friends with her for 17 years before I ever met the ex who without one word of verbal warning left out of the blue. I eat alone, take the garbage out alone come home from work alone and go to bed alone. They are not alone. Why didn’t God answer my prayer and fix it? He can manage the universe but was unable to answer my prayer.
Dan Olinger says
Donna,
I’m so sorry for what has happened to you.
As you know, I can’t make your situation better, nor can I answer your questions with any kind of certainty. There is much about God and his ways that we simply do not and cannot understand.
But there are some things that we know for certain:
1. God is not unaware of all this, and he is grieved and angered by the sin that has brought it on. He will see that in the end, justice is done.
2. He is present with you, he hears your cries, and he is focused on your ultimate good.
3. You are not alone as a victim. Others have experienced this, and they can be of great help.
4. Trusting God for what we do not understand is never unwise.
Please don’t see these things as platitudes; as I’ve said, I’m not trying to solve your problem–because I can’t–or to dismiss it frivolously. Sin is the cause of deep and long-lasting grief. But you need not be without hope, even in a badly broken world.
Dan
Layton Talbert says
If I may offer a couple more thoughts for Donna….
You have two options: (1) You can revaluate and throw out everything you ever learned and experienced about God, based solely on this very terrible, unjust experience; or (2) you can view and evaluate your experiences on the basis of how God has revealed himself and what you know God to be from his self-revelation in Scripture.
Dan is right; many of God’s children have also experienced injustice and heartbreak and betrayal. You can read about many of them—Job, Joseph, Ruth, David, and more than you or anyone else, Jesus. You may think them irrelevant because their stories are over and they have happy endings; but your story is not over yet.
It is a serious mistake to think that because God has not answered your prayers when and how you wished him to or thought he should, that he is “unable to answer prayer.” He did not answer his own Son’s repeated prayer in the garden (Matthew 26:39, 42, 44), because he had a greater goal in mind—and part of that was your salvation.
Like many others who have suffered the same kind of loss and betrayal (your story is very similar to my own mother’s), you really can find genuine joy and contentment when you make seeking God himself the very core of your life and being, not your experience or a person or your aloneness. I pray God will help you to do that. It is your only hope.