Providence

We learn from Scripture that it was no accident and not by chance that places such as Bodie, California, pictured above, are now abandoned ghost towns. The people are gone but the ruins remain as a reminder of what once was. The people, their time on this earth, and their activities, were all part of God’s plan.

Jesus said,…. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. 30And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” (Matthew 10:29-30). The Holy Bible is full of passages and events that show that God is in control and has ordained whatever comes to pass by his decretive will. God even uses the evil and sin that men do to accomplish his plan, as in the story of Joseph and his brothers…. You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives (Gen 50:20). This does not mean that God is the author of sin, but rather uses the sin that men choose to do of their own free will for his purposes. God at times works above and over the will of man to accomplish his plan, as was the case of Daniel in the lions den. In addition to God’s will of decree which is always accomplished, God also has a perceptive will that men, with their freedom of will and choice, can break. The ten commandments are an example of God’s perceptive will. He does not violate mankind making choices, but rather he works with and through these choices to accomplish his plan…. This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross (Acts 2:23). The crucifixion of Jesus was God’s plan from all eternity. It was decreed by God and it was accomplished by God. That is providence, and it is a comfort to trust and believe in this doctrine rather than the alternative which would be total chaos.