God Has Detailed Plans

The Biblical Comfort of God’s Providence

Jeremiah 29:11.  “For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

The Christian doctrine of God’s Providence should be one of the most comforting to Christians. But what is Providence?  First let us start with some defining quotes.

Among the briefest but clearest is this statement by Jerry Bridges (1929-2016):

“God’s providence is His constant care for and His absolute rule over all creation for His own glory and the good of His people.”

Chapter 5 of the Westminster Confession of Faith (England, 1647) deals specifically with God’s Providence. In seven paragraphs, covering little more than one page, it spells out the main points of the Reformed Doctrine of Providence. These are supported by more than 77 Scriptural passages, many containing several verses. The first paragraph gives a more nuanced definition of Providence.

“God the creator sustains, directs, sets end purposes, and governs all creatures, events, and things. This includes everything from the greatest to the least. Informed by his infallible foreknowledge and the free and unchangeable purpose of his own choice, God exercises his completely wise and holy directive oversight. Such sovereignty praises the glory of His wisdom, strength, justice, goodness, and mercy.”

However, the best way to understand Providence is simply to read and look for it in Scriptural verses, passages, and stories.  The doctrine of God’s Providence is closely tied to the doctrine of God’s sovereignty. Let divinely inspired Scripture speak for itself.

Below are 26 favorite verses and passages, but there are many times this number throughout Scripture.  

Jeremiah 29:11.  “For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Matthew 10:29-31.  “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are numbered. So do not be afraid; you are worth many sparrows.”

Romans 8:18. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us."

Romans 8:28. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” 

Romans 9:17. “For the Scripture says to Pharoah: ‘I raised you up for  this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

Ephesians 1:11.  “In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will.”

Ephesians 2: 8-11. “For by Grace you have been saved through Faith. And this is not of your own doing; it is the gift of God. Not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

The story of Joseph in Genesis 37 through 50 is a study rich in God’s Providence working for God’s people. This amazing story of God’s continuous providences through many trials is strongly recommended.

Genesis 45:7-8.  “But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you that sent me here, but God. He made me a father to Pharoah, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.”

Genesis 50:20. “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

Job 12:23.  “He makes the nations great, and destroys them, he enlarges nations, and disperses them.”

God’s providential care of his servants is everywhere in the Psalms. Below are just ten of them.

Psalm 33:10.  “The Lord foils the plans of the nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples.. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations.”

Psalm 34:7.  “The angel of the Lord camps around those who fear Him, and delivers them.”

Psalm 34:15. “The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry.”

Psalm 34: 17.  “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.”

Psalm 34:18.  “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”

Psalm 34: 19.  “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord deliverers them out of them all.”

Psalm 91:11.  “For He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.”

Psalm 34: 22.  “The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.”

Psalm 127:1.  “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.”

Psalm 135:6.  The Lord does whatever pleases Him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths.”

Proverbs 16:33.  “The lot is cast into the lap, buts its every decision is from the Lord.”

Proverbs 19:21.  “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”

Isaiah 55:11. “So is my word that goes from my mouth; It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

Daniel is a prophetic book of the Old Testament, predicting future world empires and revelations of the End Times. It also contains powerful themes of God’s sovereignty and wisdom and the providential triumph of obedience. Nebuchadnezzar II (the Great), King of the Neo-Babylonian Empire for 43 years from 605 BC to 562 BC, conquered Jerusalem in 587 BC. He brought Daniel and at least three other promising youths to Babylon to train and be indoctrinated in the wisdom of the Babylonian god Marduk. But Daniel and his companions resisted anything contrary to the wisdom of the Lord God.  Born in 642 BC, Nebuchadnezzar was an absolute and sometimes tyrannical monarch, perhaps the most powerful in the world at that time. He was known for his military successes but primarily for his great building projects.  Daniel gained the favor of Nebuchadnezzar by interpreting his dream of future empires—the traditional Judeo-Christian view is that these represented the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman empires. Nevertheless, Nebuchadnezzar had a 90-foot golden image of himself  built and ordered that it be worshiped. Nebuchadnezzar’s arrogant hubris invoked God’s discipline, resulting in Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity. God’s merciful relief of this insanity opened Nebuchadnezzar’s eyes to God’s absolute sovereignty and glory. Nebuchadnezzar, evidently repentant of his former religious ignorance and hubris, died on October 7, 562 BC, at the age of 80.  

Daniel 4: 34-35.  “At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified Him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the people of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand and say to Him: ‘What have you done?”

1 Samuel 2:6-10.  “The Lord brings death and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and raises up. The Lord sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; He seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s; upon them He has set the world. He will guard the feet of his saints, but the wicked will be silenced in darkness. It is not by strength that one prevails; those who oppose the Lord will be shattered. He will thunder against them from heaven; the Lord will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to His king and exalt the horn of His anointed.”

Romans 11:33-36.  “Oh, the depth and the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways. For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who has given to Him, that it would be paid back to Him? For from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”

In addition to these Scriptures, several quotes have generally proved helpful in understanding various aspects of divine Providence.

“If we would avoid senseless natural philosophy we must always start with this principle: that everything in nature depends upon the will of God…There is no such thing as fortune or chance.”—John Calvin

“There are ultimately no loose ends in God’s world.”—D. A. Carson

“God’s control is absolute in the sense that men do only that which He has ordained that they should do; yet they are truly free agents in the sense that their decisions are their own, and they are morally responsible for them.”—J. I. Packer

“The circumstances surrounding our lives are no accident: they may be the work of evil, but that evil is held firmly within the mighty hand of our Sovereign God…All evil is subject to Him, and evil cannot touch His children unless He permits it.”—Margaret Clarkson

“The providence of God is more often than not invested in the events which were by you considered unexpected or unimportant.”—Stephen Brown

“The world little dreams the things that are wrought by prayer.”—Alfred, Lord Tennyson

“God knows the way you take; you don’t know his.”—Elizabeth Elliot

“The truth is this: The march of Providence is so slow and our desires so impatient; the work of progress so immense and our means of aiding it so feeble; the life of humanity so long, that of the individual so brief, that we often see only the ebb of the advancing wave and are discouraged. It is history that teaches us to hope.”—Robert E. Lee, near the end of his life.

“Nothing is too large or too small to escape God’s governing hand. The spider building its web in the corner and Napoleon marching his army across Europe are both under God’s control.”

—Jerry Bridges

[Bridges’ reference to the spider probably refers to the folklore that Robert the Bruce,  crowned King of Scots in 1306, overcame his discouragement in fighting for Scottish independence by watching a spider succeed in building a web after many attempts. Inspired by the spider’s tenacity, Robert finally managed to defeat the English at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Scotland achieved its independence in 1328.]

“When God ordains anything to come to pass, His purpose in doing so is altogether and absolutely good.”—R. C. Sproul

“The Lord reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment. He rules the world in righteousness and judges the peoples with equity. The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.”—Psalm 9:7-10