The Heidelberg’s Providence

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to the Kingdom Perspective.

What should we do in the face of evil and suffering?

We should take comfort in God’s providential care.

Evil and suffering do not catch God by surprise. There is not a single atom, not a single virus or cancer cell, that escapes his notice or power. He is Lord of all creation and he loves us dearly. God governs all things by the wisdom of his good providence.

Listen as the Heidelberg Catechism explains this in simple question/answer format:

Q: What do you understand by the providence of God?
A: Providence is the almighty and ever present power of God by which he upholds, as with his hand, heaven and earth and all creatures, and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty— all things, in fact, come to us not by chance but from his fatherly hand.

Q: How does the knowledge of God's creation and providence help us?
A: We can be patient when things go against us, thankful when things go well, and for the future we can have good confidence in our faithful God and Father that nothing will separate us from his love. All creatures are so completely in his hand that without his will they can neither move nor be moved.

Indeed, in troubled times like ours, we can find comfort in a God that both holds our lives in his hand and has our best interest at heart.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Bless the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
covering yourself with light as with a garment,
stretching out the heavens like a tent.
He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;
he makes the clouds his chariot;
he rides on the wings of the wind;
he makes his messengers winds,
his ministers a flaming fire.
He set the earth on its foundations,
so that it should never be moved.
You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
At your rebuke they fled;
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.
The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
to the place that you appointed for them.
You set a boundary that they may not pass,
so that they might not again cover the earth.”

~ Psalm 104:1-9 (ESV)