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Catechism #12

Q. What is God’s providence?

A. God’s providence is His completely holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing every creature and every action.

In God’s providence He controls everything—living and nonliving—in the best way possible. We also use the word sovereign to refer to God’s providence.

I like to define sovereignty this way: God is absolutely in control of everything, everywhere, at all times. Dr. Ron Lynch defines God’s sovereignty this way: God either authors or allows everything that happens.

In Scripture we see God author many things. He was the author of the 10 Plagues in Egypt (Exodus 7-12) that led His people out of bondage. In those plagues we see God’s providence displayed over animals (death of cattle), nature (sea turned to blood, hailstorm, darkness), and mankind (boils, death).

But we also see Him allowing something He didn’t author. In the beginning of Job God grants Satan permission to carry out an attack on His servant (ch1-2).

When Jesus was on earth He was sovereign over nature as “the wind and seas” obeyed Him (Matthew 8:27); He was also sovereign over human life, raising the dead, healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, and giving mobility to the crippled.


As mortal humans we need to trust God to do what is right. Even when we do not understand what He is doing, we know that “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).” God is sovereign. In His providence He will always act in supreme, holy, wisdom to do what is best.
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