The Original Greek selected crops - Flipbook - Page 9
Introduction
The Providence of God
God’s providence refers to His wise and personal acts, where
He creates and controls circumstances in order to direct history
according to His predetermined plan, all for His glory and the
benefit of His elect or purposes.
I live my life in the flow of history and have been moved (and
shaped) by the circumstances God controls. I have experienced
the providence of God in my life in the significant places I have
lived and with the significant people I have met or known. People
who shaped my life and those whom I have been used to shape by
bringing them to Christ or blessing them, all by God’s grace.
The special providence of God is how the Lord looks after the details
of a person’s life. An example of divine providence in Scripture is
found in the history of Joseph. God allowed Joseph’s brothers to
kidnap Joseph, sell him as a slave, and then lie to their father for
years about his fate. This was wicked, and God was displeased. Yet,
at the same time, all of their sin worked towards a greater good:
Joseph ended up in Egypt, where he was made the prime minister.
He used his position to sustain the people of a broad region during
a seven-year famine – including his own family. If Joseph had not
been in Egypt before the famine began, millions of people, including
the Israelites, would have died. How did God get Joseph to Egypt?
He providentially allowed his brothers the freedom to sin. God’s
divine providence is directly acknowledged in Genesis 50:15-21.
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