Lord’s Day 10
Q27. What do you mean by God's providence?
Providence is God's almighty and always-present power by which he holds up heaven and earth and all creatures, like holding them in his hand. He rules everything so that sunshine and rain, good times and hard times, food and drink, health and sickness, being rich and being poor — all things come to us not by accident but from his fatherly hand.
Scripture Proofs — King James Version
Jeremiah 23:23–24
“I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.”
Acts 17:24–28
“God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.”
Hebrews 1:3
“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
Jeremiah 5:24
“Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.”
Acts 14:15–17
“And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.”
John 9:3
“Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”
Proverbs 22:2
“The rich and poor meet together: the LORD the maker of them all.”
Matthew 10:29
“Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.”
Ephesians 1:11
“In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.”
Parent Guide
Discuss this question together
Discussion Questions
- 1
What does "providence" mean according to the catechism?
- 2
Does anything happen by accident in God's world?
- 3
What is something in your life right now, good or hard, that comes from God's fatherly hand?
Illustration
Your teacher plans the whole school day: reading time, math, recess, lunch. Nothing happens randomly. God runs the whole world with even more care. Rain and sunshine, good days and hard days, a full lunch box or a skipped meal. None of it is random. All of it comes from God's hand.
Application
The next time it rains when you wanted to play outside, or something does not go the way you hoped, remind yourself that God is in charge. Ask him to help you trust that even unwanted things come from a Father who loves you.