The Sovereignty and Providence of God: How the LORD Directs Every Step and Causes His Counsel to Stand
I heard someone aptly say that the worst thing that could ever happen would be for God to die. And then He did. And even God was in control of that. What possible worse thing could happen that God wouldn’t also be in control of—complete with a purpose according to His design?
Sovereignty is God’s supreme authority in ruling over all creation, including events. Combine that with His providence, which is His active, intentional guiding of every event and detail in history to fulfill His righteous purpose.
Our best response to these dual characteristics of God is to willingly submit to Him and just lay our wills at his feet. Let’s start by acknowledging the extent of His oversight:
1. A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps. (Proverbs 16:9)
2. There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand. (Proverbs 19:21)
3. Man's goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way? (Proverbs 20:24)
4. O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. (Jeremiah 10:23)
I actually find these verses comforting because it means that even the mistakes I make do not take God by surprise, nor do they change His plans or disqualify me from being used by Him. Think of Peter denying Christ three times after he’d told Christ he would never do that. Jesus already knew he would do it anyway and told him so in advance.
The other comforting thing is that God keeps us from totally messing up His plan, and that’s because Jesus has committed Himself to interceding for us. Back to Peter. Jesus had already prayed for him before he even made his first blunder. (Luke 22:31-32) Peter lived a long life of service after this.
I wanted to blog about the ramifications of God’s sovereignty and providence because it’s something I’ve never heard a sermon on. But there are plenty of examples of it. In Acts 7, God’s sovereignty is clearly at work through providence.
In his convicting sermon, Stephen confronts the Jewish leaders with their forefathers’ long history of resisting God’s word—from Moses and the prophets to the betrayal and murder of “the Just One” (Acts 7:52). But here again, God’s chosen people reject the witness of the Holy Ghost and stone Stephen to death.
Historically, the scene looks like defeat. But it was not outside God’s control. The stoning of Stephen while he gives Israel one last chance to acknowledge Jesus is the backdrop God uses to introduce Saul. (Acts 7:58) Shortly, God calls him to salvation and changes his name to Paul—the apostle to the Gentiles. What looks like Israel’s nail-in-the-coffin rejection becomes the doorway through which God moves His plan forward focusing on the Gentiles and building the church. Later, He will turn His loving and forgiving attention back to Israel at His second coming at which time they will look upon Him whom they pierced with new eyes. (Zechariah 12:10)
Nothing in Israel’s history or the Acts 7 story is an unfortunate accident. God’s counsel always stands.
If you’d like to read the most personal passage on God’s knowing control over everything in your life, read Psalm 139.
Jody Shee