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(This is a post from my blog at http://findingtheblisss.wordpress.com I just wanted to share it here because I thought some of you would enjoy reading it)
Q. What do you understand by the providence of God?
A. Providence is the almighty and ever present power of God by which he upholds, as with his hand, heaven and earth and all creatures and so rules them that the leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty – all things, in fact, come to us not by chance but from His fatherly hand.
- From Lord’s day 10 in The Heidelberg Catechism.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose.
Roman 8:28
I remember when I was a young Christian I’d sometimes wake up to the sounds of the christian radio station in town, one of the DJ’s there named Jimmy Lakey would take to the air saying “God’s still in control he didn’t fall off the throne last night, he is still in control and today is going to be a good day”
It’s both a comforting and a scarey thought, the idea of the providence of God.
The word Providence comees from the Latin providentia It means foresight. Pro meaning ahead and videre means “to see” When speaking of God it means that God has foresight over everything that has happened, is happening now, and will ever happen in the future. It means that God knew that man would fall, he knew that Israel would turn away from him again and again and again. He knew that the son, Jesus would be sent and that he would be killed.
Beyond the biblical examples though if you believe in the providence of God you also believe that he knew about things happening in your own life.
He knew I would be teased and abused in school, he knew my brother would die, he knew I would fall away from, and come back to faith.
He knows why you are hurting, he knows what has caused it and he knows the results of what will happen to you because of it.
Does anyone reading this have issues with this philosophy? I did. For the longest time, even after coming back to faith a little over a year ago I had a horrible time reconciling this with what I’ve experienced in the world. Especially concerning the death of my brother, who died 10 years ago this last Saturday. I have always known that 1 of three things were true
1 There is no God
or
2 God isn’t as powerful as we believe him to be, he cannot stop things from happening
or
3 God is all powerful but chooses sometimes to allow suffering.
Currently in my own bible reading I am in the book of Job. I’ve never read the book all the way through but I’ve always been very familiar with the story. As I read the words though I found that Job vocalized some of the same feelings I have had before
“May the day of my birth perish,
and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’
That day—may it turn to darkness;
may God above not care about it;
may no light shine on it.
May gloom and utter darkness claim it once more;
may a cloud settle over it;
may blackness overwhelm it.
Job 3:3-5
The entire premise of the book of job is frightening. The Satan and God basically making a bet on the faith of one of Godd’s children. God allowing Satan to do with Job what he will only demanding that his life be spared. There is very little comfort in that. I cannot help but wonder if a similar deal was placed in regards to me. “Let me take his brother God, his best friend, surely he will curse you” I can hear Satan saying
How would God respond?
“Yes” God would say “You’re right, if you take away his brother he WILL curse me for a season. but when that season ends he will love me more than he ever has before in his life”
“How can you be so sure?” Satan would ask
“Because” God would say “Though he curse me I will never leave him. I will never let him slip from my grasp. Nothing that you could do or say, could ever separate him from my love.”
It is a tremendous comfort to me now to believe that God did know what would happen, and that he would walk though it with me. Guiding my steps even when I was living under the false identity of an agnostic.
I hope to write more about the providence of God in the near future, but I thought this would be a good introduction. . | 
