Do you believe in Luck, Fate, or Divine Providence?

This post is part of my year long study of Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion.  To facilitate this course of study, I am following along with Princeton Theological Seminary's  "A Year with the Institutes", which also includes an audio reading of the text.

Calvin's Institutes of Religion:  1.16.1-9

Our language is a hint to our worldview, or perhaps, as Calvin would no doubt suggest, a lazy mind.

It was not long ago, that we sold our Michigan home, by owner, in five days, in one of the worst real estate markets in history!  Here are some of the comments we received, and frankly participated in:

• Wow!  Are you lucky, or what?
• It must have been fate!
• It must have been in the cards.
• It must have been destiny.
• What a lucky twist of fate.
• Must have been the luck of the draw.
• You guys sure live a charmed life.
• Everything you touch, turns to gold.
• Must have been Karma.

Get the picture?  Absolutely no one, in their language anyway, suggested that this was a clear, and evident providence of holy God. 

Let's contemplate the definition of these words:

• Luck: success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one's own actions : it was just luck that the first kick went in | this charm was supposed to bring good luck.
  • chance considered as a force that causes good or bad things to happen : luck was with me.
  • something regarded as bringing about or portending good or bad things : I don't like Friday—it's bad luck.
• Fate:  the development of events beyond a person's control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power : fate decided his course for him | his injury is a cruel twist of fate.
  • the course of someone's life, or the outcome of a particular situation for someone or something, seen as beyond their control : he suffered the same fate as his companion.
• Divine Providence:  In theology, Divine Providence, or simply Providence, is the sovereignty, superintendence, or agency of God over events in people's lives and throughout history.

John Calvin now brings us to the subject of Divine Providence, let's see what we can learn...

Here is Calvin's thesis for this particular instruction:

"The world, created by God, is still cherished and protected by him.  Each, and all of its parts, are still governed by his providence."

Point #1 - the first thing that Calvin directs our minds to consider, is that creation, and providence are inseparably joined:

"Moreover, to make God a momentary Creator, who once for all finished his work, would be cold and barren, and we must differ from profane men especially in that we see the presence of divine power shining as much in the continuing state of the universe as in its inception."

And this:

"Carnal sense, once confronted with the power of God in the very Creation, stops there, and at most weighs and contemplates only the wisdom, power, and goodness of the author in accomplishing such handiwork. (These matters are self-evident, and even force themselves upon the unwilling.) It contemplates, moreover, some general preserving and governing activity, from which the force of motion derives. In short, carnal sense thinks there is an energy divinely bestowed from the beginning, sufficient to sustain all things.

But faith ought to penetrate more deeply, namely, having found him Creator of all, forthwith to conclude he is also everlasting Governor and Preserver-not only in that he drives the celestial frame as well as its several parts by a universal motion, but also in that he sustains, nourishes, and cares for, everything he has made, even to the least sparrow [cf. Matt. 10:29]."

There are a great many things to contemplate here already.  Did you know, for example, that many of our nation's founders, such as Benjamin Franklin, were Deists?  This was, after all, the Age of the Enlightenment, and many intelligent individuals became proud, and basked in the "light" of their own enlightenment, rather than the teachings of the Scriptures. 

Point #2 - there is no such thing as fortune or chance:

"That this difference may better appear, we must know that God's providence, as it is taught in Scripture, is opposed to fortune and fortuitous happenings. Now it has been commonly accepted in all ages, and almost all mortals hold the same opinion today, that all things come about through chance. What we ought to believe concerning providence is by this depraved opinion most certainly not only beclouded, but almost buried. Suppose a man falls among thieves, or wild beasts; is shipwrecked at sea by a sudden gale; is killed by a falling house or tree. Suppose another man wandering through the desert finds help in his straits; having been tossed by the waves, reaches harbor; miraculously escapes death by a finger's breadth. Carnal reason ascribes all such happenings, whether prosperous or adverse, to fortune. But anyone who has been taught by Christ's lips that all the hairs of his head are numbered [Matt. 10:30] will look farther afield for a cause, and will consider that all events are governed by God's secret plan."

Calvin puts forth some great mental chewing material here:

"No creature has a force more wondrous or glorious than that of the sun. For besides lighting the whole earth with its brightness, how great a thing is it that by its heat it nourishes and quickens all living things! That with its rays it breathes fruitfulness into the earth! That it warms the seeds in the bosom of the earth, draws them forth with budding greenness, increases and strengthens them, nourishes them anew, until they rise up into stalks! That it feeds the plant with continual warmth, until it grows into flower, and from flower into fruit! That then, also, with baking heat it brings the fruit to maturity! That in like manner trees and vines warmed by the sun first put forth buds and leaves, then put forth a flower, and from the flower produce fruit! Yet the Lord, to claim the whole credit for all these things, willed that, before he created the sun, light should come to be and earth be filled with all manner of herbs and fruits [Gen. 1:3, 11, 14]. Therefore a godly man will not make the sun either the principal or the necessary cause of these things which existed before the creation of the sun, but merely the instrument that God uses because he so wills; for with no more difficulty he might abandon it, and act through himself."

Point #3 - God's providence governs all:

"And truly God claims, and would have us grant him, omnipotence-not the empty, idle, and almost unconscious sort that the Sophists imagine, but a watchful, effective, active sort, engaged in ceaseless activity. Not, indeed, an omnipotence that is only a general principle of confused motion, as if he were to command a river to flow through its once-appointed channels, but one that is directed toward individual and particular motions. For he is deemed omnipotent, not because he can indeed act, yet sometimes ceases and sits in idleness, or continues by a general impulse that order of nature which he previously appointed; but because, governing heaven and earth by his providence, he so regulates all things that nothing takes place without his deliberation. For when, in The Psalms, it is said that "he does whatever he wills" [Ps. 115:3; cf. Ps. 1:3], a certain and deliberate will is meant."

Two benefits to belief in God's omnipotence:

"Those who ascribe just praise to God's omnipotence doubly benefit thereby. First, power ample enough to do good there is in him in whose possession are heaven and earth, and to whose beck all creatures are so attentive as to put themselves in obedience to him. Secondly, they may safely rest in the protection of him to whose will are subject all the harmful things which, whatever their source, we may fear; whose authority curbs Satan with all his furies and his whole equipage; and upon whose nod depends whatever opposes our welfare."

Point #4 - Calvin's definition of providence:

"At the outset, then, let my readers grasp that providence means not that by which God idly observes from heaven what takes place on earth, but that by which, as keeper of the keys, he governs all events. Thus it pertains no less to his hands than to his eyes."

Point #5 - God's providence also directs the individual:

"Suppose we grant that the beginning of motion is with God, but that all things, either of themselves or by chance, are borne whither inclination of nature impels. Then the alternation of days and nights, of winter and summer, will be God's work, inasmuch as he, assigning to each one his part, has set before them a certain law; that is, if with even tenor they uninterruptedly maintain the same way, days following after nights, months after months, and years after years. But that sometimes immoderate heat joined with dryness burns whatever crops there are, that at other times unseasonable rains damage the grain, that sudden calamity strikes from hail and storms-this will not be God's work, unless, perhaps because clouds or fair weather, cold or heat, take their origin from the conjunction of the stars and other natural causes. Yet in this way no place is left for God's fatherly favor, nor for his judgments. If they say that God is beneficent enough to mankind because he sheds upon heaven and earth an ordinary power, by which they are supplied with food, this is too weak and profane a fiction. As if the fruitfulness of one year were not a singular blessing of God, and scarcity and famine were not his curse and vengeance! But because it would take too long to collect all the reasons, let the authority of God himself suffice. In the Law and in the Prophets he often declares that as often as he waters the earth with dews and rain [Lev. 26:3-4; Deut. 11:13-14; 28:12] he testifies to his favor; but when the heaven is hardened like iron at his command [Lev. 26:19], the grain fields consumed by a blight and other harmful things [Deut. 28:22], as often as the fields are struck with hail and storms [cf. Isa. 28:2], these are a sign of his certain and special vengeance. If we accept these things, it is certain that not one drop of rain falls without God's sure command."

Point #6 - God's providence especially relates to men:

"But because we know that the universe was established especially for the sake of mankind, we ought to look for this purpose in his governance also. The prophet Jeremiah exclaims, "I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not his own, nor is it given to man to direct his own steps" [Jer. 10:23, cf. Vg.]. Moreover, Solomon says, "Man's steps are from the Lord [Prov. 20:24 p.] and how may man dispose his way?" [Prov. 16:9 p., cf. Vg.]. Let them now say that man is moved by God according to the inclination of his nature, but that he himself turns that motion whither he pleases. Nay, if that were truly said, the free choice of his ways would be in man's control. Perhaps they will deny this because he can do nothing without God's power. Yet they cannot really get by with that, since it is clear that the prophet and Solomon ascribe to God not only might but also choice and determination. Elsewhere Solomon elegantly rebukes this rashness of men, who set up for themselves a goal without regard to God, as if they were not led by his hand. "The disposition of the heart is man's, but the preparation of the tongue is the Lord's." [Prov. 16:1, 9, conflated.] It is an absurd folly that miserable men take it upon themselves to act without God, when they cannot even speak except as he wills!"

Point #7 - God's providence regulates nature:

"Also, I say that particular events are generally testimonies of the character of God's singular providence. In the desert God stirred up the south wind, which brought to the people an abundance of birds. [Ex. 16:13; Num. 11: 31.] When he would have Jonah cast into the sea, God sent a wind by stirring up a whirlwind [Jonah 1:4]. Those who do not think that God controls the government of the universe will say that this was outside the common course. Yet from it I infer that no wind ever arises or increases except by God's express command. Otherwise it would not be true that he makes the winds his messengers and the flaming fire his ministers, that he makes the clouds his chariots and rides upon the wings of the wind [Ps. 104:3-4; cf. Ps. 103:3-4, Vg.], unless by his decision he drove both clouds and winds about, and showed in them the singular presence of his power. So, also, we are elsewhere taught that whenever the sea boils up with the blast of winds those forces witness to the singular presence of God. "He commands and raises the stormy wind which lifts on high the waves of the sea" [Ps. 107:25; cf. Ps. 106:25, Vg.]; "then he causes the storm to become calm, so that the waves cease for the sailors" [Ps. 107:29]; just as elsewhere he declares that he "has scourged the people with burning winds" [Amos 4:9, cf. Vg.].

So too, although the power to procreate is naturally implanted in men, yet God would have it accounted to his special favor that he leaves some in barrenness, but graces others with offspring [cf. Ps. 113:9]; "for the fruit of the womb is his gift" [Ps. 127: 3 p.]. For this reason, Jacob said to his wife, "Am I God that I can give you children?" [Gen. 30:2 p.]. To end this at once: there is nothing more ordinary in nature than for us to be nourished by bread. Yet the Spirit declares not only that the produce of the earth is God's special gift but that "men do not live by bread alone" [Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4]; because it is not plenty itself that nourishes men, but God's secret blessing; just as conversely he threatens that he is going to "take away the stay of bread" [Isa. 3:1]. And indeed, that earnest prayer for daily bread [Matt. 6:11] could be understood only in the sense that God furnishes us with food by his fatherly hand. For this reason, the prophet, to persuade believers that God in feeding them fulfills the office of the best of all fathers of families, states that he gives food to all flesh [Ps. 136:25]. Finally, when we hear on the one side, "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears toward their prayers" [Ps. 34:15], but on the other, "The eye of the Lord is upon the impious, to destroy their memory from the earth" [Ps. 34:16 p.], let us know that all creatures above and below are ready to obey, that he may apply them to any use he pleases. From this we gather that his general providence not only flourishes among creatures so as to continue the order of nature, but is by his wonderful plan adapted to a definite and proper end."

Phew!  That was a great deal of pasting Scripture!  The case is very clear, everywhere, in the whole counsel of God.

Point #8 - the true cause of events is hidden from us:

"Yet since the sluggishness of our mind lies far beneath the height of God's providence, we must employ a distinction to lift it up. Therefore I shall put it this way: however all things may be ordained by God's plan, according to a sure dispensation, for us they are fortuitous. Not that we think that fortune rules the world and men, tumbling all things at random up and down, for it is fitting that this folly be absent from the Christian's breast! But since the order, reason, end, and necessity of those things which happen for the most part lie hidden in God's purpose, and are not apprehended by human opinion, those things, which it is certain take place by God's will, are in a sense fortuitous. For they bear on the face of them no other appearance, whether they are considered in their own nature or weighed according to our knowledge and judgment. Let us imagine, for example, a merchant who, entering a wood with a company of faithful men, unwisely wanders away from his companions, and in his wandering comes upon a robber's den, falls among thieves, and is slain. His death was not only foreseen by God's eye, but also determined by his decree. For it is not said that he foresaw how long the life of each man would extend, but that he determined and fixed the bounds that men cannot pass [Job 14:5]. Yet as far as the capacity of our mind is concerned, all things therein seem fortuitous. What will a Christian think at this point? Just this: whatever happened in a death of this sort he will regard as fortuitous by nature, as it is; yet he will not doubt that God's providence exercised authority over fortune in directing its end. The same reckoning applies to the contingency of future events. As all future events are uncertain to us, so we hold them in suspense, as if they might incline to one side or the other. Yet in our hearts it nonetheless remains fixed that nothing will take place that the Lord has not previously foreseen."

So, getting back to my home sale in Michigan, it was God's divine providence that our home sold so quickly. It has nothing to do with luck! 

I am also frequently filled with wonder, as I look back on this event.

Resolved - to earnest seek to change my language, as it pertains to God's divine providence.

Have you experienced any especially dear Providences of God's hand?