Q: What do you understand by the providence of God?
A: Providence is
the almighty and ever present power of God1
by which he upholds, as with his hand,
heaven
and earth
and all creatures,2
and so rules them that
leaf and blade,
rain and drought,
fruitful and lean years,
food and drink,
health and sickness,
prosperity and poverty-3
all things, in fact, come to us
not by chance4
but from his fatherly hand.5
1 Jer. 23:23-24; Acts 17:24-28
2 Heb. 1:3
3 Jer. 5:24; Acts 14:15-17; John 9:3; Prov. 22:2
4 Prov. 16:33
5 Matt. 10:29
Q: How does the knowledge of God's creation and providence help us?
A: We can be patient when things go against us,1
thankful when things go well,2
and for the future we can have
good confidence in our faithful God and Father
that nothing will separate us from his love.3
All creatures are so completely in his hand
that without his will
they can neither move nor be moved.4
1 Job 1:21-22; James 1:3
2 Deut. 8:10; 1 Thess. 5:18
3 Ps. 55:22; Rom. 5:3-5; 8:38-39
4 Job 1:12; 2:6; Prov. 21:1; Acts 17:24-28