Understanding God's providence

27 What do you understand by the providence of God?

27 God's providence is his almighty and ever present power, 1 whereby, as with his hand, he still upholds heaven and earth and all creatures, 2 and so governs them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, food and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, 3 indeed, all things, come to us not by chance 4 but by his fatherly hand. 5

28 What does it benefit us to know that God has created all things and still upholds them by his providence?

28 We can be patient in adversity, 1 thankful in prosperity, 2 and with a view to the future we can have a firm confidence in our faithful God and Father that no creature shall separate us from his love; 3

28 for all creatures are so completely in his hand that without his will they cannot so much as move. 4

Footnotes

Question 27 · Footnote 1

Jeremiah 23:23-24

"Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD.

Acts 17:24-28

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for "'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.'

Question 27 · Footnote 2

Hebrews 1:3

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Question 27 · Footnote 3

Jeremiah 5:24

They do not say in their hearts, 'Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rain in its season, the autumn rain and the spring rain, and keeps for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.'

Acts 14:15-17

"Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness."

John 9:3

"It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

Proverbs 22:2

The rich and the poor meet together; the LORD is the maker of them all.

Question 27 · Footnote 4

Proverbs 16:33

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.

Question 27 · Footnote 5

Matthew 10:29

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.

Question 28 · Footnote 1

Job 1:21-22

And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

Psalms 39:10

Remove your stroke from me; I am spent by the hostility of your hand.

James 1:3

for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

Question 28 · Footnote 2

Deuteronomy 8:10

And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Question 28 · Footnote 3

Psalms 55:22

Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.

Romans 5:3-5

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Romans 8:38-39

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Question 28 · Footnote 4

Job 1:12

And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

Job 2:6

And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life."

Proverbs 21:1

The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.