The Providence of God

Introduction

We believe that God created the world. We also believe that God continues to work in the world. This working of God can be described in a variety of ways but the concept of providence will be included. Providence is the word we use to describe God’s care and provision for this world. God works in this world to bring about his will. God did not create the world and step away from it. He has a purpose and desires about this world and he will work to bring about his will and purpose. He sustains this world bringing the rain and sunshine to all while working to ensure that all have an opportunity to join him in his work.

With the idea of providence come some very difficult questions—Do we have free will? Why is there evil in the world? How do we cooperate with God in fulfilling his purposes without diminishing his providence? These are valid questions. I will try to answer a couple of these questions today. I will present an entire lesson on the question of evil in three weeks. Entire doesn’t mean exhaustive.

The idea of providence has an important assumption tied to it. Providence demands that God knows the future. We use the word “omniscient” to describe this attribute of God. God knows everything and knows how it will occur. He is able to see well beyond what we see. The Bible says that God the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:9-10). The Bible says that God knows our thoughts before we speak them (Psalm 139:4). The Bible says that God knows the hearts of all (1 Kings 8:39). The Bible says that God is intimately aware of all happenings both those that concern us and those that do not (Matthew 10:29-30). The disciples depended on the omniscience of God when selecting an apostle to replace Judas (Acts 1:24). While God shared this earth with us as Jesus, the Bible says that Jesus knew the thoughts of others (Matthew 9:4; 12:25; Mark 2:6-8; Luke 6:8). In talking with the woman at the well Jesus knew about her life without being told about it (John 4:18). Jesus knew when Lazarus died without any telling him (John 11:11-15).

If God knows all things and he is working for our good (Romans 8:28) to carry out his own purposes and will in this world, then learning to trust God becomes extremely important. In our teaching time today, we are going to focus on evidence of God’s providence as found in scripture and then we will turn to answer two questions—Is there free will? and How do I cooperate with God?

Evidence of Providence

My approach this morning is not the only approach to talking about providence. I’m not sure it is the best approach, but it is an approach that can be encouraging if we will open our hearts. God knows all things. Consider:

Genesis 15:13—God calls Abraham to follow him and he promises to make Abraham’s descendants into a great nation but then comes this verse: Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there.”

Deuteronomy 25:17-19—Moses through God’s instruction reminds the Israelites that the day is coming when it will be time to destroy the Amalekites. “Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind [typically women and children]: they had no fear of God. When the LORD your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!” 400 years later, Saul is told to destroy the Amalekites.

Jeremiah 25:8-9—Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Because you have not obeyed My words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them and make them a horror and a hissing, and an everlasting desolation’” This prophecy demonstrates God’s announced purpose for Nebuchadnezzar. There is little doubt that this great king had no idea that he was carrying out God’s will but Jeremiah was telling Jerusalem that God was going to use Babylon to punish them.

Jeremiah 25:12-13—“‘Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the Lord, ‘for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation. I will bring upon that land My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations’” Even before the destruction takes place, God knows when it will end.

Isaiah 44:28—who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,” and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.” 150 years before Cyrus became king over the Persian empire, God already called him to fulfill his purpose in restoring Israel after Babylonian captivity. But this is not all that Isaiah has to say about Cyrus.

Isaiah 45:4-6—For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting people may know there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is no other. God used Cyrus even though Cyrus did not acknowledge God as Sovereign and Lord.

Free Will?

So is there free will? Yes. Neuroscience suggests that free will is an illusion. It has been shown that our minds prompt us to do something before we become conscious of it. Thus, some will say that are actions were predetermined. But such is not the case. What neuroscience leaves out is what the psychological sciences have also discovered. We have the ability to think about our actions before engaging them. While we may be prompted to act before the conscious mind is aware of it, once aware the conscious mind does not operate without thought. These “thoughts” are often unconscious because we have engaged them so many times that they are second nature to us. The point—free will exists. We have the ability to decide if an action is morally right.

But then you ask, was Cyrus a pawn? Did he really choose his actions? Of course, he did. Cyrus didn’t acknowledge God. God didn’t manipulate him. But before Cyrus decided that restoring all nations including Israel was a good political move, God knew he would do that. The history is clear—Assyria and Babylon moved nations around to create political chaos. The long term effects included nations who hated Assyria and Babylon and caused chaos within the kingdom. Persia tries a different tack. Restore kingdoms; restore good will; develop allies (who clearly owed their existence to Persia) rather than create chaos. Cyrus’ approach was not based on a faith in the God who creates, sustains, and provides. It was based on a political notion. The point—God saw what Cyrus was going to do and used that as an opportunity to demonstrate that he is Sovereign. Cyrus’ free will was left intact and God’s purposes were carried out.

There are some who suggest that in order for God to remain flexible, he uses our prayers and actions to determine what he will do. Thus, God is not omniscient; God doesn’t know everything. Instead God is all wise and able to weave together his purposes and will as it best helps us. This means God isn’t God who knows all and understands the future before we enter it, but rather God is at our disposal to carry out his will as we make requests and share expectations with him. Who is God at that point?

You have free will. You have the ability to choose right and wrong. You also have the ability to choose to cooperate with God. To cooperate with God means that learn to trust him. Such doesn’t diminish your free will but what you learn in the process is that there is nothing that brings greater joy in this world than learning to want what God wants. We set our hearts on God. This is our free will at work. We seek for God to be seen through us. We want God to use us to bring about his will in this world. We learn to trust God so that every event that occurs, even those that are evil and bad, we understand that God is still at work. It is not a matter that God caused the evil nor did he endorse the evil, but God already has in mind how that evil will be used to bring about his will and purpose. We know this is true about good things.

I would suggest to you that our faith is too shallow. That in our desire to avoid any discomfort in life, we have made God into our image demanding that he make life comfortable, enjoyable, and easy. And if God should fail us, we then despise him for that failure and demand to know why it is that God in his providence didn’t live up to our expectations. God is not Santa Claus, a doting grandfather, or a person who specializes in live and let live thinking. He is Creator. He is Sustainer. He is the Provider. He is the one who Works to bring about his will. He is God whether we see him as such or not. Our reading in Matthew demonstrates that our desire is to pursue God’s kingdom and then learn to trust that he will provide what we need.

He is the one who saw Abraham and made his descendants great. He is the one who saw the descendants in captivity 1000 years before it happened. He is the one who saw Cyrus returning Israel to its homeland 150 years before Cyrus took the throne. He saw Babylon fall when Babylon gloried in its power. And he saw his son on cross before time began. And through every generation and peoples he worked to bring Jesus into this world. And when the cruelty of human beings was poured out on him and they nailed him to a cross, God—the all knowing, all wise, all loving, omniscient God—took all of our sin upon himself and by his own name and reputation and integrity as God forgave all sin. That God does not need to know what we are going to do before he decides what to do. That God deserves everyone us to bend the knee and to open our hearts and to cry out every day “Lord, I believe; help me in my unbelief.” Invitation.

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