God Is In Control: God’s Providence

God’s Providence – That which He creates He also sustains and provides for.

Let’s take a look at 10 Truths of the Providence of God, as seen in the life of Joseph. Joseph himself, as recorded in Genesis 50:15-21 looked back over his life and the providential hand of God thereon, and recognized before his brothers (fearing he would kill them for the evil they had done to him) that what they had indeed meant for evil, “God meant it for good.”

So let’s see what Joseph saw; recognizing and heralding the truth that:

1. God is Providentially in Control Over DEVASTATING LOSS. (Gen. 37:18-28) (See also, John 15:1-2; Job 1:20-22)

2. God is Providentially in Control Over ALL CIRCUMSTANCES. (Prov. 16:4; 16:9; 16:33) (See also, Psalm 135:5-6, Eph. 1:11) *God’s will implies certainty without compulsion.

3. God is Providentially in Control Over ALL ASSIGNMENTS. (Gen. 39:1-3) *Running Potiphar’s household was preparation for running nation during time of famine.

4. God is Providentially in Control Over ALL GRIEVOUS SETBACKS. (Gen. 39:6-10, 20-23)

5. God is Providentially in Control Over BROKEN HOPES. (Gen. 40:14, 23) *Trust in Him; not in our own contrived timetables.

6. God is Providentially in Control Over PROLONGED WAITING. (Gen. 41:1) (See also, 2 Cor. 5:7)

7. God is Providentially in Control Over POWERFUL PEOPLE. (Gen. 41:1-8) (See also, Is. 40:23; Prov. 21:1)

8. God is Providentially in Control Over WEATHER, FAMINE, and CALAMITIES. (Gen. 41:25-32) (See also, Amos 3:6; Psalm 119:68)

9. God is Providentially in Control Over ALL PROMOTION & ADVANCEMENT. (Psalm 75:6-7)

10. God is Providentially in Control Over EVERY EVENT IN LIFE – GOOD AND BAD – AND WORKS OUT ALL THINGS FOR GOOD FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM AND ARE CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE. (Rom. 8:28) (See also, James 4:15) *God, who is good, is in control of all things and works them toward and for His glory.

This study was given by Dr. Steve Farrar last year during a men’s Bible study. For men living in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, you may be interested in knowing that each week, beginning Wednesday, September 13, 2006, and running through May 2007, Steve leads the Wednesday Night Men's Fellowship in the sanctuary of Stonebriar Community Church, in Frisco, Texas. This is a free, Wednesday night class for all men, from 7-8:30 p.m.

Let me encourage you, if you live in the DFW area, to make the trip and join us this fall under Steve’s God-honoring and glorifying study and instruction!

Finally, some great quotes on providence:

“God the great Creator of all things doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least by His most wise and holy providence, according to His infallible 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” (Westminster Confession of Faith, V, i)

“By the law of providence, I mean God's sovereign disposal of all the concerns of men in this world—in the variety, order, and manner, which he pleases—according to the rule and infinite reason of his own goodness, wisdom, righteousness, and truth.” (John Owen)

“A firm faith in the universal providence of God is the solution of all earthly problems. It is almost equally true that a clear and full apprehension of the universal providence of God is the solution of most theological problems.” (B.B. Warfield)

"There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: 'Mine!'" (Abraham Kuyper)
.