"GOD'S OVERSIGHT & BENEVOLENT CARE" (An Article by Christian Henry) ~ 4/10/25

“Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” (Matthew 6:26)

In His infinite power and wisdom, God upholds, directs, disposes, and governs all creatures and things, from the greatest to the least. He does this by His most wise and holy providence to fully oversee and provide for them to fulfill the purpose for which He created them. God governs to achieve this purpose according to His infallible foreknowledge and His unchanging counsel. This outcome will be the praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice, boundless goodness, and mercy that God's attributes may be expressed and revealed, and that God may be glorified. He can also overrule all natural laws, human decisions, and circumstances when He pleases to fulfill his will.

God's almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness are so fully expressed in His providence that His definite plan extends even to the first fall and all other sinful actions of both angels and men. This is not merely by a bare permission but by a form of permission in which He includes the most wise and powerful limitations and other means of restricting and controlling sin. God has designed these various limitations to bring about His most holy purposes. Yet, in all these affairs, the sinfulness of both angels and men comes only from them and not from God, Who is holy and righteous and can never be the author or approver of sin.

The all wise, righteous, and gracious God often leaves, for a time, His children to various temptations and the corruptions of their hearts to chastise them for the sins which they have committed or to show them the hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness still in their hearts, so that they may be humbled and aroused to a more close and constant dependence upon Himself for their support, and that they may be made more watchful against future occasions of sin. Such action by God also serves other just and holy objectives. Therefore, whatever happens to any of His elect is by His appointment, for His glory and their good.

As for those wicked and ungodly men whom God, as a righteous judge, blinds and hardens for former sins, He not only withholds His grace but sometimes also withdraws the gifts that they had and exposes them to certain things or situations that their corrupt state will make the occasion of sin. When exposed to them, they will immediately grasp the opportunity to sin. God gives them over to their lusts, the temptations of the world, and the power of Satan so that, eventually, they harden.

As the providence of God in general reaches all creatures, so, in a more special manner, it takes care of His church and governs all things for the good of His church.

In the specific text, Jesus is talking about the beauty in God’s provision for the birds that fly in the air. These creatures can’t think or feel the way we do, and yet their needs are met through His impeccable oversight. The beasts of the field are also sustained in the same way. How much more will our Creator care for and protect His cognitive creation?