Question 27. What dost thou mean by the providence of God?
Answer. The almighty and everywhere present power of God; [a] whereby, as it were by his hand, he [b] upholds and governs heaven, earth, and all creatures; so that herbs and grass, rain [c] and drought, fruitful [d] and barren years, meat and drink, [e] health and sickness, [f] riches and poverty, yea, and all things [g] come, not by chance, but by his fatherly hand.
Question 28. What advantage is it to us to know that God has created, and by his providence doth still uphold all things?
Answer. That we may be patient in adversity [h]; thankful [i] in prosperity; and that in all things, which may hereafter befall us, we place our firm [j] trust in our faithful God and Father, that nothing shall [k] separate us from his love; since all creatures are so in his hand, that without his will they [l] cannot so much as move.
[a]: Acts 17:25,26,27,28
[b]: Heb. 1:3
[c]: Jer. 5:24
[d]: Acts 14:17
[e]: John 9:3
[f]: Prov. 22:2; Job 1:21
[g]: Mat. 10:29,30; Eph. 1:11
[h]: Rom. 5:3; Psa. 39:10
[i]: Deut. 8:10; 1Thes. 5:18
[j]: Rom. 5:3,4,5,6
[k]: Rom. 8:38,39
[l]: Job 1:12; Job 2:6; Mat. 8:31; Isa. 10:15
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