“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “(Romans 11:33 ESV)
“God’s ways at times seem baffling. As the Apostle Paul says, they are inscrutable (Rom. 11:33). That’s why as Christians, we often encourage each other to trust in God’s providence, to remember His invisible hand, and to rest in the knowledge that He orchestrates all things for our good (8:28). We call on providence when God’s ways are “past finding out” (11:33, KJV). When tragedy strikes. When joy surprises. When sorrow overwhelms. When opportunity knocks. When circumstances push us to the edge. When we have no answers. Somehow. Some way. As Christians, we know the solution lies deep in the providence of God,” writes Dr. John W. Tweeddale, academic dean and professor of theology at Reformation Bible College in Sanford, Fla.
Not only does the LORD provide answers to the dilemmas of life from His Word, but also by trustworthy commentaries, creeds, and confessions concerning His Word. One such trustworthy confession is the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF) of 1646.
“The Westminster Confession of Faith, or simply the Westminster Confession, is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the “subordinate standard” of doctrine in the Church of Scotland and has been influential within Presbyterian churches worldwide,” explains one scholar.
Chapter Five of the Confession addresses the subject of Providence. The following except is taken from that chapter.
- God the great Creator of all things upholds, directs, disposes, and governs all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest to the least, by his most wise and holy providence, according to his certain foreknowledge and the free and immutable counsel of his own will, to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.
- In relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, the first cause, all things come to pass immutably and unerringly; yet, by the same providence, he orders them to come about according to the nature of secondary causes, either necessarily, freely, or contingently.
- God, in his ordinary providence, makes use of means, yet is free to work without, above, and against, them, at his pleasure.
- The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness of God do so far manifest themselves in his providence, that it extends even to the first fall, and all other sins of angels and people. Such do not happen by a bare permission, but are joined with a most wise and powerful bounding, ordering and governing of them, in various dispensations, for his own holy purposes, yet so that the sinfulness of them comes only from the creature, and not from God, who, being most holy and righteous, is not nor can be the author or approver of sin.
- The most wise, righteous, and gracious God often leaves his own children for a season to various temptations and the corruption of their own hearts
- to chastise them for their former sins, or to show to them the hidden strength of the corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts, so that they may be humbled,
- to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support upon himself,
- to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for various other just and holy purposes.
- As for those wicked and ungodly people whom God blinds and hardens, as a righteous judge, for their former sins, he not only withholds from them his grace by which they might have been enlightened in their understandings and worked upon in their hearts, but also sometimes withdraws the gifts they had, and exposes them to such objects as their corruption makes occasions of sin. In addition, he gives them over to their own lusts, the temptations of the world, and the power of Satan, by which it comes to pass that they harden themselves, even by those means which God uses for the softening of others.
- As the providence of God in general reaches to all creatures, so, after a most special manner, it takes care of his Church, and disposes all things to the good of it.
I encourage you to read and meditate upon the Westminster Confession of Faith. Truths We Confess by Dr. R. C. Sproul is an excellent commentary and explanation of the WCF.
“The doctrine of providence reminds us that while the precise purposes of God may be veiled from our sight, we can still draw comfort from knowing that whatever befalls us comes from God’s good and wise plan for our lives. Certainly, this precious truth lies behind the many exhortations in Proverbs for us to trust in God. We place our faith in the Lord and not in our own understanding, because He will make our paths straight (Prov. 3:5–6). It is the Lord who establishes our steps (16:9). His purposes stand forever (19:21). One of the ways my wife and I reinforce these truths in our family is to challenge each other to trust in God’s wisdom, to be content with what God gives, and to be faithful in what God calls us to do each and every day. We rest in God because we know that nothing is outside the scope of His providence. There are no “maverick molecules,” as Dr. Sproul used to say. All that comes to pass is according to His will and for His glory,” concludes Dr. Tweeddale.
Soli deo Gloria!
His Word Today 