What is God's Providence?

Sometime later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called. “Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.” “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.” The next morning, Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.” So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together, Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “We have the fire and the wood,” the boy said, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?” “God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked on together. - Genesis 22:1-8 (NLT)

The Lord has established His throne in the heavens,
And His sovereignty rules over all. - Psalm 103:19 (NASB)

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 (1646), Chapter 5 - Of Providence

What I want to know is where everything is going. What is the goal that guides everything? Then, we can grasp more fully the nature and extent of his Providence. By the question of extent, I mean How much and how completely does God control things, including human beings? By the question of nature, I mean, for example, What does God use to control things? Is the word control even the right word? It is not my default word to describe Providence. Not because the word is false but because it tends to carry connotations of mechanical processes and coercive strategies. I will use it. But I hope to continually show why these connotations do not attach to God’s Providence. Providence is all-embracing and all-pervasive, but when God turns the human will, there is a mystery to it that causes a person to experience God’s turning as his own preference—an authentic, responsible act of the human will. God is sovereign over man’s preferences. Man is accountable for his preferences. God’s hidden hand in turning all things and his revealed commands requiring all obedience are in perfect harmony in the mind of God but not in our visible experience. We are obliged to follow his revealed precepts, not his secret purposes. We will see that such is the nature of Providence. - John Piper, Providence

The holiness of our actions consisteth in conformity unto his precepts, and not unto his purposes. - John Owen

I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes—that every particle of spray that dashes against the steamboat has its orbit, as well as the sun in the heavens—that the chaff from the hand of the winnower is steered as the stars in their courses. The creeping of an aphid over the rosebud is as much fixed as the march of the devastating pestilence—the fall of . . . leaves from a poplar is as fully ordained as the tumbling of an avalanche. You will say this morning, Our minister is a fatalist. Your minister is no such thing. Some will say, Ah! he believes in fate. He does not believe in fate at all. What is fate? Fate is this—Whatever is, must be. But there is a difference between that and Providence. Providence says that whatever God ordains must be, but the wisdom of God never ordains anything without a purpose. Everything in this world is working for someone's great end. Fate does not say that. Fate simply says that the thing must be; Providence says God moves the wheels along, and there they are. If anything goes wrong, God puts it right, and if there is anything that would move awry, he puts his hand and alters it. It comes to the same thing, but there is a difference as to the object. There is all the difference between fate and Providence that there is between a man with good eyes and a blind man. Fate is a blind thing; it is the avalanche crushing the village down below and destroying thousands. Providence is not an avalanche; it is a rolling river, rippling at the first like a rill down the sides of the mountain, followed by minor streams, till it rolls in the broad ocean of everlasting love, working for the good of the human race. The doctrine of Providence is not: what is, must be; but that what is works together for the good of our race, and especially for the good of the chosen people of God. The wheels are full of eyes, not blind wheels. - Charles Spurgeon

Even we who believe in God can sometimes be guilty of living our lives as if He did not exist. How often do we drive around town, work at the office, dig in our gardens, read a book, prepare our food, and so on without thinking that our Lord is watching and sustaining us? As you go about your business this week, endeavor to keep yourself aware of the Lord’s presence no matter what you are doing. Remember that He loves you and is working through you.

All the way my Savior leads me–
What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy,
Who through life has been my guide?
Heav’nly peace, divinest comfort,
Here by faith in Him to dwell!
For I know, whate’er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well;
For I know, whate’er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well.

All the way my Savior leads me–
Cheers each winding path I tread,
Gives me grace for ev'ry trial,
Feeds me with the living bread.
Though my weary steps may falter
And my soul athirst may be,
Gushing from the rock before me,
Lo! a spring of joy I see;
Gushing from the rock before me,
Lo! A spring of joy, I see.

All the way my Savior leads me–
Oh, the fullness of His love!
Perfect rest to me is promised
In my Father’s house above.
When my spirit, clothed immortal,
Wings its flight to realms of day,
This is my song through endless ages:
Jesus led me all the way;
This is my song through endless ages:
Jesus led me all the way. - Fanny Crosby

Be Encouraged to embrace the Providence of God fully.

-Jeffrey Thornton