Skip to content ↓

Trusting God with Creation But Not Providence

Trusting God with Creation But Not Providence

Each of us is prone at times to lose our confidence in God’s wisdom and to assume that he would benefit from a bit of our own. How often do we grumble and complain against God’s will? How often in prayer do we attempt to direct God according to our own limited knowledge, our own limited wisdom?

Yet God’s creation has a way of redirecting our thoughts, for it displays the greatness of his wisdom. God created it without the least bit of input from any man, yet he made it good and very good. And if God exercised his wisdom in creating so wonderful a universe, shouldn’t we trust him to exercise his wisdom in the affairs and circumstances of our lives? Will we trust him with creation but not providence, trust him to create but not to direct?

To ask the question is to highlight its absurdity. Faith directs us to believe that God’s providence is every bit as beautiful as creation—as beautiful as the mighty mountains, as awesome as the expanse of the oceans, as stunning as the most wondrous of all the creatures that live on the earth.

As Matthew Henry once wrote, “God did not consult us in making the world, yet it is well made; why should we expect then that he should take his measures from us in governing it?”

(This is an excerpt from my forthcoming devotional book Understanding and Trusting Our Great God)


  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (January 14)

    A La Carte: Narcissus in public / A famous poet, KFC, and peace with my past / Does empowerment come from boudoir photoshoots? / Surrendering them to God / Sermon prep / Your plans for this year / and more.

  • 10 Reasons to Teach the Bible’s Big Truths to Children

    📖 Why teach children the big truths of the Bible? Moses commanded Israel to gather everyone—men, women, and little ones—to hear God’s law. Why? So they could “hear and learn to fear the Lord.” (Deut. 31:12-13) Children need the deep, rich truths of Scripture to know God, embrace the Gospel, and build a faith that…

  • Prosperity

    The Prosperity Gospel We Sometimes All Believe In

    My family experienced some difficult days through the holiday season. These were the kind of days that involved ambulances, emergency rooms, bleeds, broken bones, and even terrifying diagnoses that, thankfully, turned out to be misdiagnoses. We entered this new year thankful for the holidays but also thankful to be through them. And, to be honest,…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (January 13)

    A La Carte: Is Meta chasing the anti-progressive vibe shift? / Joe Rogan’s interview of Wes Huff / When one spouse claims (and one denies) abuse / Kenneth Copeland’s 10 weeks in hospital / It could have been me / Kindle deals / and more.

  • The Men Who Have Done Most for God in this World

    “The men who have done the most for God in this world have been early on their knees.” This quote from E.M. Bounds would work perfectly well without the word “early.” It would then say, “The men who have done the most for God in this world have been on their knees.” Taken that way,…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (January 11)

    A La Carte: Parents can’t fight porn alone / Victory in Jesus (a new song) / Will you pass the test? / What God meant is what God means / Lessons from caring for a disabled child / and more.