Lost in Life? Here's How God's Providence Is Smarter Than Your Best Plans

Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.

Psalm 115:3 (ESV)

Lost in Life? Here's How God's Providence Is Smarter Than Your Best Plans

I hope that today, my readers and listeners learn that God’s providence is smarter than our best plans. Life can be overwhelming because of all the things you have to get done—phone calls, emails, and meetings you have to wade through. This article is designed to help you get excited about the daily things God gives us that shape us into who he needs us to be. (My transparency is coming later in the article.)

Welcome to the providence of God in real life. Don’t check out—no, this is not going to be a theological diatribe. This read is going to be theology fleshed out in your daily life. You hear the word a lot in Christian circles—the providence of God—but what does it really mean?

The providence of God can be defined as God's providential will, which comes from His wisdom. God is the only person who is completely free to carry out His will that is not corrupted by sin.

This means that whatever happens in our lives is brought about, in one way or another, by an all-wise God. In one sense, what is taking place in your life right now is God’s will. I know the hard situations that some might be going through: divorce for marital unfaithfulness, a strained marriage, a cancer diagnosis, broken relationships that seem impossible to heal. We will come back to these once we examine the wisdom of God, which gives us God’s providential will—which is smarter than our best plans.

1. God’s Wisdom

The first verse I had you read when you clicked into this article was: “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.” Psalm 115:3 (ESV)

It is this verse that helps us begin to understand the reason God is in this position in the first place: He is eternally—and will forever be for all the ages to come—the wisest of all. The reason He can do as He pleases is that He is the Creator and Ruler of all things. He is in His position because He is all-wise.

How does this work with all the bad things that happen in life? How can I say that God is good, and it is His will for a child to be murdered or a spouse to cheat on their partner? This requires us to understand, at a basic level, individual human will and God’s decreed purposes.

God’s Decreed Purposes. To understand this concept, we must realize that God is the first cause of all things. A biblical way to look at this is through Pharaoh in the book of Exodus:

“But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had spoken to Moses.” Exodus 9:12 (ESV)

We see the first cause: God hardening Pharaoh's heart.

People would ask—and maybe you are thinking it right now—why does the second cause matter if God is overriding man's will? Hold on. Not so fast. Let’s slow down and approach this from our theological grid of God’s providential wisdom. God is wise and has a decreed purpose from the foundation of the earth. He had to get the Israelites back to Canaan, and the way He carried out this decree was by hardening Pharaoh's heart.

This cannot be denied: it is a historical fact that if God had not shown His almighty power to Pharaoh in this way, Israel would never have left Egypt. But there is more. God may be the first cause of all things; however, there is a second cause, and this is man's self-will. So, before you start welling up with empathy for poor Pharaoh, let’s look at another section of Exodus:

“But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.” Exodus 8:15 (ESV, adapted for flow)

The text puts on display Pharaoh’s self-will. He hardened his own heart toward this almighty God. This is a historical fact: if Pharaoh had not hardened his own heart to God’s almighty hand, Israel would never have left Egypt.

How do we take this complex theological concept that I just revealed to you from the Bible and apply it in real time? God’s providence is so much better than our best plans. God’s decreed purposes are worked out through His providential wisdom, and this shows up in our lives through every circumstance and decision that we make.

I am going to be transparent here to hopefully help. My being the focus helps others learn and apply without having to air their imperfections.

I was scraping/salting driveways before the snowstorm here in North Carolina. My wife and I had discussed several times that I would be ready to attend a birthday party at 5 p.m. that day.

Everything was going well until the end of the day. I was driving home and pulling into my driveway. It was icy, but I have driven up this driveway many times when it was icy. Well, this time my truck began to spin and wouldn't go up the hill because of the ice. I put it in four-wheel drive—same thing. Of course, when I backed up the truck, the trailer began to slowly slide into the ditch. I was able to control it enough to position the trailer for unloading the tractor.

I will save the boredom of the rest of the story. I am just going to summarize it: I was able to get my truck, trailer, and tractor out of the ditch. Nevertheless, I was not going to make it to the party by 5 o'clock. I was providentially hindered. The old me would have beaten the steering wheel and started screaming and throwing things. This was God’s will, and I could not fight against it. So, I accepted it and started taking my will and working with what God gave me. (My wife was not happy—I will keep that part between her and me.)

Let’s talk about a preliminary application. We are to take our will and work with God’s revealed will—not against it. It is in God’s wise providential will that the best plan for our life is found. Where in your life are you working with God’s will? Where in your life are you working against God’s clearly revealed will? How are others in your life helping you see where you are working with God and areas where you are working against God?

Pharaoh was told God’s will: “Let my people go to worship God,” but he resisted it. He resisted with his self-will (hardening his own heart), and God resisted him by hardening Pharaoh’s heart. We see both causes at work: God and man. Together, they give us the full picture of God’s revealed yet mysterious providential wisdom.

2. Dealing with the Hard Topics

Now let's take what we have learned about God’s providential wisdom and apply it to our hard topics: divorce for marital unfaithfulness, a strained marriage, a cancer diagnosis, child abuse, broken relationships that seem impossible to heal.

Is this God’s will in the big picture (decreed will)? Yes. However, in an individual sense (man’s self-will)? No. In most cases (except perhaps cancer), man is fighting against God’s revealed will. They are no better than Pharaoh, hardening his own heart.

I know God hardened Pharaoh’s heart also. How can I know if God is hardening these people's hearts in the situations above? We can’t, but I know what we can tell: Do they seek the heart of God in His revealed will? Let’s take a quick look at marital unfaithfulness—not God’s revealed will. Strained marriage: In this, God is revealing His will by showing people their sins that need confession and repentance. The couple must submit to what God is revealing to each of them. The same goes for strained relationships.

In conclusion, God’s providential wisdom is the best plan for your life. Don’t fight against it—go with His will and let Him reveal the sins that you need to confess and repent of. God's providential will, which comes from His wisdom, is the best and smartest plan for your life. Until next month, go out and share and proclaim the gospel, because the truth worth proclaiming and sharing is the truth that transforms.

Application Points

·         Where in your life are you working with God’s will?

·         Where in your life are you working against God’s clearly revealed will?

·         How are others in your life helping you see where you are working with God and areas where you are working against God?