I titled this post almost 9 months ago, and didn’t leave any additional context. What was my (mildly) younger self thinking? I think I can put some words down.
The Reformed answer to theodicy, or the Providential Problem (which asks, “Fully what does God control? And if everything, why is there evil?) loves to talk about Meticulous Providence – the notion that God ordains, to the very last meticulous detail – every aspect of every moment of every anything that exists anywhere and everywhere, and all that at all times. And to that I systematically say, “Amen,” and pastorally say, “Shut up.”
Systematically (and to various extents biblically, as well), there is no escaping a full fledged affirmation of this doctrine. If one holds that God created ex nihilo and that “nothing exists but that which was created by God,” then it only stands to reason that God would be supremely sovereign over all those things, and that nothing could happen that was outside His ordination, decree, or desire. That He turns or uses the bad, without sanctifying them (Romans 8:28), hardly lessens His control or omnipotence. His predestination of all things – singularly and doubly – is logically a given, lest His authority or sovereignty be stripped.
But be that all as it may be, this is far from how Scripture talks of God’s sovereignty and exercise of His divinity. I reject Meticulous Providence for systematic apathy or stoicism – a detached approach to theology. Nowhere in Scripture is God stoic or abstract; where He is significantly other, He is yet personally attentive to His creation (chief among this is Job 38:3, where God, while lambasting Job for his arrogance in questioning God’s motives, challenges Job to, ‘brace yourself like a man.’ While challenging Job, God also acknowledges his humanity and identity; this is not impassive, but passionate).
But moreso, meticulous providence is simply an unhelpful pastoral term. Often the abstract concept of theodicy is talked about in generalizations and thought about in personalization. That is, I will say something like, “Yes, it’s true that marriages between two faithful Christians sometimes fail,” and someone to whom I’m talking will immediately think of their parents – whom they love – and who walked through a brutal divorce. The abstracted concept is immediately personalized. And for that wounded individual, I’m not sure saying, “Throughout that, God was meticulously providential,” is all that helpful. It’s neither compassionate nor particularly hope-giving.
And so this leads to a breaking of the two terms – Meticulous and Providence. Instead of the one phrase, I want to speak to two aspects to God’s exercise of His omnipotence in the world – God’s Meticulous Faithfulness and His Pervasive Providence.
God exercises meticulous faithfulness throughout the known world. His favorite description of Himself is found in Exodus 34:6-7, where God describes Himself as exceedingly faithful. And in 2 Timothy 2:13, Paul argues that for God to be unfaithful would be for God to deny Himself; faithfulness is at the very core of who God is. God will be faithful! And He exercises His faithfulness not just at the macro level, but at every level – there is no place in creation where God is not faithful. His faithfulness is meticulous. It’s the very basis of the laws of physics! That God’s faithfulness will cause every strong and weak molecular force to be consistently and precisely measurable throughout every instance of substance in the known universe is blinding evidence to this incredible truth. He is meticulously faithful.
And at the same time, God is Pervasively Providential. His providence is His precise working of His plan for redemption and good, throughout every moment and every aspect of every broken day or sinfilled moment. There is not a place where God does not claim sovereignty – does not declare, “Mine!” – and yet in every one of those places God’s providence is seen and embraced. His providence – His ‘working of all things to do the good of those who love Him,” is everywhere and shall not be denied.
I feel these two words do a better biblical and pastoral job of capturing and speaking about the same concept – that God is in control. This world seems out of control – how do we understand God’s work in the midst of our chaos? He is meticulously faithful, and He is pervasively providential, and both of those truths should bring us deep hope and encouragement.