God's Unseen Hand

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This morning I've chosen, for a variety of reasons, to leave our study of Philippians 3 and do what I would have done a few Sunday nights from now as we're studying the great doctrines of the Bible on Sunday evenings. This morning I want us to take the doctrine of providence and sort of unfold what the Scripture has to say about God's superintending and directing all the events of His universe for His own glory

I don't know about you, but I enjoy the internet and benefit from it in a variety of very practical ways. One of those is I do my banking online; another is it's a great resource for topics that you need information on. For example, yesterday I wanted to find out a little bit about some practical steps I could take for my heart's help, that is, my physical heart. I have a family history of heart disease, so I figured I probably should do what I can to protect against that. There're also a large number of very helpful biblical and theological sites. You can learn everything from good theology to really, really bad theology. But either way, it helps you sort of understand how people are thinking. There're also some pretty bizarre Christian sites on the internet. I don't know if you've seen any of them. There are a couple of sites devoted to nothing other than sort of detailing these really bizarre sites that are out there.

My personal favorite is the Mother Teresa cinnamon bun. Now, I don't know if you've ever seen that or not, but it started in Nashville. It's affectionately known as the Nun Bun. And I didn't make that up. That's what it's called. And it started in Nashville when a baker pulled out of the oven this cinnamon bun that had this remarkable resemblance to the famous portrait of Mother Teresa. And so somebody (due to the modern marvel of technology and also someone with way too much time on his hands) took a picture of that cinnamon bun with that resemblance. And now you can go on the internet, and you can click on that bun. And when you click on it, it sort of morphs into the actual portrait of Mother Teresa. And you click on it again, and it morphs back to this simple cinnamon bun. Now I know all of you who have internet access are going to go look for this. Unfortunately, it is temporarily offline, but you'll be able to see it again soon. I'm not making this up. It does exist. I checked yesterday, and it's temporarily offline. So you'll have to wait until it gets it back up. But people have come and venerated the cinnamon bun. They have made pilgrimages to see the cinnamon bun.

There're other sites like this. You know, there's the Jesus tortilla. I don't know if you've ever heard about that. A tortilla that the frying pan left these burns in, that sort of looks like, resembles a famous painting of Christ. And that also has been venerated. You see, people want to see a miracle. They want to believe that they have actually witnessed a miracle. Now, those are pretty bizarre. But let's be honest, it would have been pretty amazing to have seen an actual miracle from the hand of Elijah or Elisha or the apostles.

The truth is, you and I see something every bit as amazing and spectacular every day, but we just never really open our eyes to see it. C. S. Lewis said that a miracle is when God takes His hand out of the glove. He said,

God's normal way of working every day is, as it were, to have His hand in the glove where we can't actually see God work. We see the effects of it, but we don't really see His hand. A miracle is when God pulls His hand out of the glove and allows us in a clear and undeniable way to see that He's working.

But God does many of the same things that He does in miracles every day, and we don't even notice it. Take, for example, Jesus' first miracle. You remember at the wedding in Cana they ran out of wine, which wasn't a surprise because the wedding celebrations went a long time in ancient times. And so they ran out of wine, and Jesus turned water into wine. He took His hand out of the glove, as it were, and allowed us to see God doing something truly amazing. And yet the truth is, God does the same thing every day with His hand in the glove. God causes the moisture to rise up from the earth and to form clouds, and the rain falls from those clouds and is absorbed into the ground. And as it goes into the ground, the root system of the grapevine absorbs that water. The water flows up through that network of vines into the areas of the developing grapes, and the water becomes grape juice. And then through a process of fermentation that God has put in place, that grape juice becomes wine. God does it every day, but He does it with His hand in the glove.

Theologians call this unseen hand of God, whereby He sustains and governs everything He's made, His providence. And this morning, I want us to examine, briefly, this doctrine of providence. I say briefly. I won't be brief. But I feel like we're not doing justice to this great topic, because there's so much that we could look at. This is worth weeks of study, and we're going to do it in one message. So put on your seat belts. Here we go. This activity of God called providence.

Let me tell you this at the outset. If you have never really come to grips with what I'm going to teach you this morning, if God will open your mind to understand it, it will revolutionize your life. It will change your perspective about everything in your life. I can promise you that, because I've experienced that personally. I don't think there's any truth of Scripture that has more shaped my own life than the one I'm going to teach you this morning, God's providence.

It's crucial that you understand God's providence for a couple of reasons. Let me just tell you why it's important right off the bat. First of all, it's important because thinking rightly about providence will allow you to think rightly about all of the life circumstances that you have to face. You and I have a lot of things that we face every day that require us to understand God's providence. Let me just give you a few samples. Recently, have you experienced any of these? You want to be married, but there's no potential partner in sight. You discover that someone you love has cancer. You lose a child. You get a cold or the flu just when you can't afford to be sick. Your car dies, and you don't have the money to fix it. One of your parents dies, robbing your children of the opportunity to know their grandparent. Interest rates rise, just as you're trying to buy a house. Real estate sales plummet, just when you're putting your house on the market. Your landlord raises your rent by a hundred dollars. Here's an appropriate one: the political candidate whose policies and lifestyle you most despise gets elected for four years. The metroplex has a terrible hailstorm that damages your roof and your vehicles at the same time. Civil war breaks out in Russia or civil unrest in some U.S. city. Your car breaks down in the bad part of town at night. You made a wrong decision, and you have to live with the results of it. Your children grow up and leave home—or perhaps worse, they grow up and don't leave home. Your company of fifteen years lays you off. Your child is in a horrific car accident. You're told you have a chronic health problem that will endure the rest of your life, or the doctor comes in and tells you you have six months left to live. Those are just a few of the thousands of circumstances that you and I have to face every day and in our lifetimes. And if we don't understand providence, then we're not really prepared to deal with those.

There's another reason that providence is very important for us to understand, not only because of the practical benefits, but because it is so foundational to our faith. Let me show you this. Turn to Acts 17. Paul was waiting for his fellow workers to catch up with him in Athens, and he's basically touring the city, as you and I would have done. Sheila and I have had the opportunity to visit Athens and to look at all the sites there. But as Paul looked at these things, he was not impressed by the beauty and glory of the architecture. He wasn't primarily impressed with the genius of man. Instead, what impressed him is the sad reality that all of these people, who enjoyed the gifts of God, who expressed their creativity in these magnificent buildings, were given over to the worship of idols, false gods. And so he's given an opportunity at the Areopagus, or Mars Hill, to address the philosophers of Athens, the Epicureans and the Stoics.

Now the starting point for him was obvious. He did have one thing in common with them, and that is they were supernaturalists. That is, they believed there were divine beings. They were not humanists that believed everything began and ended with human beings. But notice where Paul starts with them. Verse 24, he says I'm going to proclaim this God you don't know to you, and here's who He is: "The God who made the world and all things in it." He begins his presentation of the gospel with God as creator. It's pretty interesting, actually, because the Epicureans were materialists, that is, they believed matter is eternal; the Stoics were Pantheists, that is, they believed God was matter. So Paul manages in his first sentence of his sermon to offend everybody present. He says God is the creator of everything; He is distinct from His creation.

But not only did He create it (notice the second half of verse 24), "He is [the] Lord [the Master, the Sovereign] of heaven and earth." He rules everything that He made. Verse 25, He sustains it. He doesn't need anything from you. "He... gives to all people life and breath and all things." Verse 26, he says God's providence extends beyond individuals even to nations. "He made from one man [that is, Adam] every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times [that is, when these countries would exist] and the boundaries of their habitation." Even their national borders God determined. Verse 27, why did He do this? "That [in order that, this is God's purpose, in order that] they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us." Listen, God intends that what He reveals about Himself in creation and what He reveals about Himself in providence drive men to seek Him.

Where would you have started to present the gospel to those philosophers on the Areopagus? Paul starts with creation and providence. Providence is absolutely foundational in his thinking to presenting the gospel. Why is that? Why is it foundational? Simply this: because if God isn't in charge, then He isn't really God.

I love the illustration R. C. Sproul gives. He sort of took advantage of some first-year seminary students. He walked into a seminary class one day, and he read this statement to these students. He said, "God, from all eternity, did by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass." And he stopped. He said, "All right, let's take a vote. How many of you men believe that statement is true?" As he tells the story, about a third of the men raised their hands sort of sheepishly, not sure, you know, what the professor wanted. He said, "All right, let me ask you another question. How many of you men are atheists?" Of course, no one raised his hand. And then he said this to them. He said, "Wait a minute, some of you aren't voting."

You see, the point he was making is that if God isn't God, if He isn't in charge, if He isn't ruling His world in every detail, then He isn't God. There cannot be a stray molecule in the universe or it would eventually unseat God. You remember the old adage? For want of a nail (what?) a shoe was lost, for want of a shoe the horse was lost, for want of a horse the rider was lost, for want of a rider the battle was lost, for want of the battle the war was lost, for want of the war the kingdom was lost. It started with a nail. Listen, if there is a stray molecule anywhere in God's universe, that could eventually be the unseating of God, and it's not possible. It's crucial that we understand this doctrine because of the very practical help it gives us in facing life circumstances, and because it's so foundational to our faith.

Now what I want us to do this morning is to answer several crucial questions about this doctrine. We're going to do it in a hurry. As I said, put your seat belts on, because there's a lot I want to cover. But I want you to get the breadth of what the Bible teaches about this truth. The first question I want us to answer is this: what is providence? Well, the word providence comes from a Latin word which means "to see before," which isn't what the word means. This shows the fallacy of using the root or the etymology of a word to determine what it means, because it doesn't mean just "to see before." In fact, let me give you a definition, a dictionary definition of the English word: "a careful arrangement prepared beforehand for the accomplishment of predetermined ends." But let me give you a theological definition. Here's what providence means from a theological, a biblical perspective. It comes from the pen of Thomas Watson. He writes this: "God's ordering all issues and events of everything after the counsel of His own will to His own glory." Let me read that again. "God's ordering all issues and events of everything after the counsel of His own will to His own glory."

You see, in creation God brings everything into being, but in providence God does two things. First, He preserves everything He made. He preserves it. For example, Psalm 36:6 says, "You preserve man and beast." Colossians 1:17, "In [Christ] all things hold together." Hebrews 1:3, "[Christ] upholds all things by the word of His power." Acts 17:27 says, "In Him [that is, in God] we live and move and exist." Everything continues to exist every moment by the power of God. If God stopped willing our universe to exist for one second, it would disappear into oblivion, including each of us. He preserves everything He made.

But there's a second aspect of His providence, and this is really the primary focus of the word providence. Not only does He sustain or preserve everything that He created, but He governs everything He created to ensure that all the purposes for which He created them are actually accomplished. He governs, He directs, He's superintends everything to accomplish the purpose He desires. Let me show you this in one very clear verse, Psalm 135:5. In this Psalm about the vanity of idols as opposed to the worship of the true God, verse 5 says, "For I know that [Yahweh] is great and that our Lord is above all gods." Now, how is it that God shows Himself to be superior to all the other falsely, so-called gods of the universe? Here it is: "Whatever [Yahweh] pleases, He does." Whatever He pleases, whatever He wants to do, He does. So how far does that extend? Notice the end of the verse: "In heaven and in earth, [and] in the seas and in all deeps." In other words, there is nowhere you can go that God isn't doing what He pleases. He is governing everything to make sure His purpose for creating it is accomplished.

Well, that raises a second question. That is what providence is, but a second question is why is it necessary? Why is providence so important? Well, let me give you two quick reasons. First of all, because God has an eternal plan. I've already hinted at this, but turn to Ephesians 1. Let me show you this. Providence is crucial, because God has a plan. In Ephesians 1 you essentially have a chapter about the eternal plan and purpose of God. Someday we'll unpack all the richness that's here, but let me just sort of scrape the surface in a couple of minutes with you here right now. There are several things outlined in this chapter. First of all, God, part of His plan, verse 4, is to redeem those whom He has chosen. "He chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love." God says I have given as a love gift to My Son certain people, and I'm going to redeem them, and I'm going to draw them to Myself. Then He says I'm going to mediate every spiritual blessing to them through Christ. If you read this passage, notice how often He says everything we have is "in Christ." Verse 3, He's "blessed us... in Christ." Verse 4, "He chose us in Him," that is, in Christ. "In love [verse 5] He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ." He gave us this great grace, verse 6, which is "bestowed on us in the Beloved," that is, in Christ. "In [Christ]," verse 7. You get the idea. God determined not only to save us but to mediate every spiritual blessing to us through Jesus Christ.

God has another part of His plan. Verse 10 says His plan is to ultimately subject everything in the universe to Jesus Christ. Notice verse 10: to sum up "all things in Christ." Why is God doing this? What is the sort of capstone of God's plan and purpose? Well, notice verse 6: "To the... glory of His grace." Verse 12, "To the praise of His glory." Verse 14, "To the praise of His glory." That's God's eternal plan, folks. That's what God is about in the world. Everything else is peripheral. God is about saving people, blessing them through Christ, exalting His Son, and ultimately bringing everything in the universe under Him "to the praise of His glory." Everything else is just details. That is the plan.

Now notice verse 11. Notice how God is described. He is the God (the end of the verse) "who works all things after the counsel of His will." Listen, God has a plan, and providence is necessary because providence is how He works it out. A. A. Hodge—I love this quote. He says,

The human race is preserved; continents and islands are settled with inhabitants; nations are elevated to empire; philosophy and the practical arts, civilization and liberty are advanced [here's the reason] that the church, the Lamb's bride, may be perfected in all her members and adorned for her husband.

Everything that's going on in the world, folks, in terms of God's perspective, is not about the important people of the world, it's about us. He's got a plan, and He's working it out.

But there's another reason God's providence is necessary, not only because of His eternal plan, but also because of who He is, because He is sovereign. Psalm 103:19—you don't need to turn there. But it says this: "The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all." Listen, God's providence is crucial because of who He is. God is sovereign. That's what He is. Providence is how that sovereignty manifests itself. Providence is God showing His sovereignty by accomplishing and ruling all that He made.

So we've seen what providence is; we've seen why it's necessary. Now briefly, I want to consider another question. And that is, how does God accomplish His providence? Now I'm about to plumb depths that neither you or I nor are really qualified to plumb. But put on your thinking caps, and stay with me. Theologians refer to the process by which God governs everything He made as concurrence. Now let me explain it to you. Basically, it says this. You're familiar with the principle of cause and effect. Concurrence says God is the first cause. That is, God acts in the world, God acts in the universe. He has a plan, and He's working it out. He makes decisions about how things are going to be. But God also uses second causes. In other words, God isn't the only one in the universe really doing anything, and the rest of us are just sort of pretending: you know, we're robots. No, that isn't what providence teaches. Providence doesn't deny that men really act for themselves, that men and women really make their own decisions. We do. God's given us that. Nor does providence deny that God has established natural laws in the universe such as gravity, such as the hydrological cycle by which the earth is watered. God has those natural laws in place, and He's given us the opportunity to act. What concurrence says is this. These second causes (That is, the acts that we do, the acts of animals and the working of natural laws. Those are all second causes.), that God superintends those. He directs those to absolutely guarantee that they fulfill His plan. In other words, you and I make real decisions, but the amazing thing about providence is God is superintending and directing our real decisions and the real decisions of everyone else who's ever lived or ever will live to accomplish His perfect plan.

Let me show you this illustrated in Acts 2. I think you can see it better here in living color. Acts 2, it's on the Day of Pentecost. Peter is preaching to the Jewish people. And he says this in Acts 2:23: "This man [that is, Christ], delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God." There it is. God as the first cause. God as the actor, as the one making it happen. But notice the second half of the verse. God used second causes. "You nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death." There are men, wicked men with their own selfish, evil agendas looking to protect their turf. They're behind the crucifixion of Christ. They made a real decision to do that for their own advancement. So you have God as the first cause, with a plan, superintending the free decisions of those men to see that Christ was in fact crucified. They're responsible for their sinful choices, but God directed it to ends they never foresaw.

Look again in Acts 4. You see the same thing illustrated. Acts 4:27, the apostles have been released from prison, and they're praying to God for His vindication. And they say this in their prayer. Verse 27, "For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel." In other words, he's saying look, God, there were those evil people with all kinds of different agendas. From Herod with his political agenda, Pontius Pilate looking to keep from being thrown out of office, to the Gentiles who had something else in mind, to the people of Israel, the leaders of Israel who didn't want to lose their place—all of them were working, making their own decisions. But notice what happened. Verse 28, they did "whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur." You see folks, what God does in the miracle of providence is He takes the natural laws He's put in place, and He takes our free decisions, and He weaves together all of the contingencies like a master weaver, so that in the end His perfect will is accomplished. What an amazing truth. And let me tell you, that's as much as we can understand. That's as deep as we can go. That's all the Bible says about how God does it.

So fueled by His eternal plan and His absolute sovereignty, God preserves everything He made, and He directs it to ensure that it accomplishes His own divine ends. But that raises the next question. How far does God's control go? What does God's providence actually control? Well, we've already seen that it's universal, His sovereignty rules over all. There are a lot of examples I could choose, but let me give you some categories. What does God's providence control?

First of all, it controls the physical world, that is, the earth and the animal creation. You know, the environmentalists worship the earth we live on. It's remarkable what they will go to to preserve this world, even at the expense of the people who live here. But as much as we oppose what they believe, I'm afraid we have been influenced by the culture in which we live, because many of us think in terms of the natural world (that is, in terms of the creation, in terms of the physical world) as "nature." Well, I hope by the time we're done with this section you won't think of nature, you'll think of God.

Turn to Psalm 104. Let me show you God's intimate involvement with His created world. Psalm 104 is really an ode to God's providence over the physical world. And if we had time (as we will someday) we'd go through it in detail, but let me just highlight a couple of things for you. Look at verse 14: "[God] causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the labor of man." Listen, vegetation is not merely the product of some impersonal law, but it's the direct result of the care of our God. Yes, He uses the natural law of growth that He's put into the universe, but He superintends it, He's involved in it. Verse 16, the Lord is portrayed as a great gardener and the earth as His garden: trees which God planted. Notice verse 21: "Young lions roar after their prey and they seek their food from God." Verse 27:

They all wait for You

To give them their food in due season.

You give to them, they gather it up;

You open Your hand, [and] they are satisfied with good.

Listen, just as you and I feed our pets, God feeds and provides for the animals in His world. And when He doesn't (notice verse 29), He takes "away their spirit, they expire and return to... dust." That's why Christ, in Matthew 6:26 in the Sermon on the Mount, said the birds don't sow, they don't gather into barns but—what? "Your heavenly Father feeds them." Matthew 10:29 says that not even one sparrow falls without God's supervision. Listen, nothing in the physical world happens outside of the control, the intimate control of God.

Let me show you that's true even with weather. I had an opportunity last night—turn Job 36. As I was reading this passage that thunderstorm that some of you experienced came up, and it was a wonderful illustration to me of this truth. Notice Job 36. Elihu, one of Job's friends who isn't chastised by God, who had some good things to say, he says this. Verse 27:

[God] draws up the drops of water,

They distill rain from the mist,

Which the clouds pour down,

They drip upon man abundantly.

Certainly in Texas that's true. Notice verse 30: "He spreads [the] lightning about Him." Verse 32, "He covers His hands with the lightning, and commands it to strike the mark." Listen, not a single bolt of lightning falls to the ground apart from God's directing it. Verse 33, "It's noise declares His presence." When you hear the thunder, it's supposed to remind you of the presence of God. Job 37:1, "At this my heart trembles, and leaps from its place." Don't feel like you're alone when that happens when it strikes right next to your house. Elihu said the same thing happens to me. But it's not just storms. Notice verse 9: "Out of the north [comes] the cold."

Verse 10, "From the breath of God ice is made, and the expanse of the waters is frozen… with moisture He loads the thick cloud." Verse 12, "It changes direction, turning around by His guidance, that it may do whatever He commands it on the face of the inhabited earth." Whether for correction (literally, for the rod) or for His world or for lovingkindness, He causes it to happen. Elihu even gives us the reasons God does it. Listen folks, God is intimately involved even with our weather.

Nothing happens in His world apart from His control. He uses second causes, but He's intimately involved in all of these processes, directing them to fulfill His great eternal plan. I'm afraid we have allowed our culture to rob us of what God intended to be a constant reminder of Him. You know, this weekend you've undoubtedly seen some of God's creation. This morning as you drove to church, you saw the beauty of this fall morning. Let me ask you, did you really see it, and did you really give God glory for it? That's what He intended. He controls it all for that very purpose.

Well, not only does God control the physical world, but the Bible says He also controls the affairs of nations. Psalm 22:28, "He rules over the nations." But probably the best illustration of this is found in the Book of Daniel. Turn there with me to Daniel chapter 4. This was written by Nebuchadnezzar (chapter four was), the greatest king that ever lived; interestingly enough, the king of what is modern Iraq. He writes this:

[I'm writing] to all the peoples, nations, and men of every language that live in all the earth [that's us]: "May your peace abound! It... seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders which the Most High... has done for me."

And then he goes on to recount what God did in reducing him to the level of a grazing animal. Why? Here's the point. Look at the end of verse 25. Daniel tells him this is why it's going to happen to you, Nebuchadnezzar: "Until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and [watch this] bestows it on [whomsoever] He wishes." Listen folks, not only does God determine (as we saw in Acts 17) the times nations exist and their boundaries, but God even determines who will be in power. Can I make it real personal? God's not worried about getting out the vote on Tuesday. He will put in power—that doesn't mean you and I shouldn't vote. We should fulfill our responsibility. But He will put in power whomever He chooses. Romans 13:1 and 6 say that all authorities which exist, God established. God controls the affairs of nations.

So He controls the physical world, the affairs of nations. Thirdly, He controls things that seem accidental or insignificant. I love Esther 6:1. You remember the story of Esther. The Book of Esther doesn't even contain the name of God. That's because it's intended to show us God with His hand in the glove working to accomplish His purpose. But in Esther 6:1, the king can't sleep. It says, "During [the] night the king could not sleep so he gave an order to bring the book of records." It's kind of the ancient equivalent of Sominex. You know, this'll work, I can't sleep, bring the books, read'em, it'll help. Verse 2 says that he came across a plot that Mordecai had uncovered, and it saved his life. And so he determines to honor Mordecai, and through that God thwarts the evil purposes of Haman to destroy the Jewish nation. Listen, the king's insomnia, God gave him in order to rescue the entire Jewish nation. The next time you can't get to sleep, you think about that. Proverbs 16:33 says the lot is cast in the lap, but the outcome thereof is of the Lord. Even the ancient equivalent of drawing straws is under the control of God.

But my favorite account of this is in 1 Kings 22. I won't have you turn there for time, but I encourage you to read the story. Jehoshaphat was king of the south in Israel, Ahab was king in the north, and they put together a confederacy against Syria. Some things never change, you know, Israel against Syria. And they brought a prophet in by the name of Micaiah. Ahab was against it, because Micaiah never had anything good to say about it. He says look, don't bring that guy, he never says anything good. Well sure enough, Micaiah said you go into that battle, you're going to be defeated. Well they go anyway, but Ahab says look, I've got a plan. I'm going to disguise myself. I mean, after all, as a king in the ancient world, the king was a pretty heavy target. He wanted to get the leaders. So He says I'll disguise myself as just an average, ordinary soldier, and I'll come through the battle fine. Well, 1 Kings 22:34 says, "A certain [bowman] drew a bow at random." You know, you could picture the battle scene. It's an absolute mess. Everybody's doing everything. And here's a young man, maybe not even looking. You know, he's kind of frightened. Maybe he didn't want to be there. And he draws his bow, and he lets the arrow fly. And God directs the flight of that arrow to the chink in Ahab's armor, and he dies. God directs even the flight of an arrow.

But God also directs not only those things that are insignificant and accidental, or seem so to us, but He directs the lives of individuals. Stay with me just a minute, let me finish this up. He directs the lives of individuals, our lives. Charles Hodge writes:

The circumstances of every man's birth, life and death are ordered by God. Whether we are born in a pagan or Christian land, whether weak or strong, with many or few talents, whether we are prosperous or afflicted, whether we live longer or shorter, are not matters determined by chance or by the unintelligent sequence of events, but by the will of God.

Joseph is a great example of this. Sold by his brothers at 17 years old, and through an amazing set of circumstances ends up at the age of 30 (13 years later) as the Prime Minister of Egypt. God's providence in our lives is every bit as complex as what He did in Joseph's life, every bit as active and every bit as complex. God is involved with our birth and our life circumstances. Psalm 139:16 says God mapped out your life before you were ever born. Your successes and failures come to you from the hand of God. Read the story of Joseph, where it says God granted him favor with Potiphar, God granted him favor with the jailer. Deuteronomy 8, Moses tells the Israelites, if you enjoy certain wealth, it's not because you've done it, it's because God did it. Our outward successes and failures come to us from the hand of God.

Even our free decisions and actions are governed by God's providence. You remember Proverbs 21:1? It says the heart of the king is [what?] in the hand of the Lord, and He turns it whatever way He chooses. The picture is of an irrigation canal with this rudder on it, as it were. You flip it, and the water goes a different direction. God says I do that with the heart of the king. He does it with our hearts as well, even our free decisions. We make genuine, real decisions, but God superintends and controls those to accomplish purposes He chooses.

Can I say it? Even our sinful actions are under the control of God's providence. God isn't responsible for our sin. He didn't make us do it. We are totally and completely responsible, but He even directs our sinful acts to the accomplishment of His great eternal plan. The clearest example and illustration of that is in Genesis 50:20, where Joseph says to his brothers—what? You meant it for evil. When you sold me into slavery, you meant it for evil, but "God meant it for good." You made a real decision, because you hated me. But God directed that. He directs evil acts to ends unforeseen and unintended by sinners. It's an amazing reality that God is in control. Sinful acts are under divine control and occur only by God's permission according to His ultimate purpose. You say, but isn't God tainted in some way by controlling sinful acts? No. One Reformer used the illustration of a rotting corpse lying on the ground. He said, "When the sunbeams come down and hit that rotting corpse, they further the decay and the corruption, but those sunbeams are neither the cause of that decay, nor are they tainted by that decay." That's how it is when God directs sinful choices of men to His own purposes. He's not responsible, and He's not tainted by it. But He directs them to ends they never foresaw, and us as well. You know what it means? When people sin against us, we have no right to be angry. Because although they are responsible for their sin, God has permitted it, and He plans to direct it for our good. Thomas Watson writes, "If men do not act as we would have them, they shall act as God would have them."

So God's providence includes every detail of our lives and everything in the universe at every moment in time. That leaves one final question to answer, very briefly. How do we respond to the doctrine of providence? How do we respond to it? Well, let me tell you how not to respond. Don't use it as an excuse for sin. God doesn't make you sin. Don't use it as an excuse to neglect your responsibilities. God tells you what to do in the Word of God. You're responsible to do those things, and if you fail to do them, it's your fault. God doesn't take responsibility for it. It's yours. Don't use providence as a guide. In other words, don't expect God to reveal beforehand what you ought to do. As one writer said, "Providence is a Christian's diary, not his Bible." Don't use it as a spiritual diagnostic tool. In other words, don't try to read providence and say well, maybe this trial I have in my life means something. Well, it probably does, but that doesn't mean you can discern it. Search your heart, confess your sin and move on. Respond to God in a way that honors Him.

How do you use your knowledge of providence? Well first, submit to God. Submit to His providence. First Peter 5:6, "Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you [in due] time." Listen, don't fight God. Submit to what He's brought into your life. Secondly, don't assume that your desires are part of God's sovereign plan. You remember James 4? He says, don't say I'm going to go into such and such a city and I'm going to work there for a year and I'm going to make a profit and… No. Say, if God wills. It's not something we just sort of tag on to something, you know, "if God wills." He means live in the reality that God has a plan, and it may not be yours. Thirdly, recognize that His providence is for your good. Romans 8:28—you knew I'd get there. "God causes all things to work together for good." Fourthly, don't fear the future, even the outcome of Tuesday's election. Nothing can or will happen outside of God's control. Read Psalm 91. It'll put you back on track. Don't fear. God is our shield; as Luther wrote, our "fortress." And finally, be deeply grateful. First Thessalonians 5:18 says, "In everything [that is, in everything God providentially brings into your life] give thanks," because God means it for your good. Whether it's fun or whether it's not, whether you can understand it or not, God will use it for your good. Give Him thanks. What an amazing reality that God directs, superintends everything He created to fulfill the purpose for which He created it. Let's pray together.

Father, thank You for Your Word. I don't feel that I've done justice to this great truth of providence. I pray that somehow Your Spirit would illumine the understanding of Your people, that they would come to grips with how great You are and how good You are. Thank you, Father, that You rule everything in Your universe to accomplish Your own will and purpose, that great eternal plan to save sinners, and to do it to Your great glory. Lord, help us to submit to Your providence. Help us to be grateful for everything You bring into our lives. Lord, don't let us fear the future, knowing that we don't know the future, but we know who holds it. Lord may our confidence remain absolutely steady in Your goodness and in Your providence. I pray in Jesus' name, amen.