In Christian theology, the concepts of God’s sovereignty and providence are often discussed in tandem. While they are closely related, understanding their nuances is key to grasping the deeper aspects God and how He operates in the world.

God’s sovereignty refers to His ultimate authority and power over all creation. It signifies His right and ability to govern the universe according to His divine will. On the other hand, God’s providence is the means by which He exercises this sovereignty — it’s how He orchestrates the details of the universe to fulfill His purposes.

As we fully understand the nature of God from the scriptures, we learn that He not only determines what is to be done, but He also acts to accomplish His ultimate will.

This is important to understand because God isn’t inactive in the world; He is very active in our world today and is constantly working to ensure that His purposes are fulfilled and accomplished.

In the life of a Christian, God acts in several ways. Through the Holy Spirit; He spiritually regenerates; illuminates the word of God and empowers us to do the work of God .

In the lives of unbelievers, He does a spiritual work by bringing them to a place of repentance and salvation. And once they are born again, the Holy Spirit moves them in the process of sanctification (toward Christlikeness), leading and guiding them in a continuous process of spiritual growth.

Apart from this spiritual work, He also works in the physical dimension of life.  Historically, God is involved in our physical world in two ways. One is through providence, and the other is through miracles.

Let’s first examine the difference between the two. A miracle is when God acts by suspending the natural laws (He created), like raising someone from the dead, walking on water, a floating axe, a flood that drowns majority of the human race, the sun standing still, etc.

This is also seen in the life of Jesus, where He performed miracles that suspended the natural laws, for example, feeding the five thousand, stopping a storm, reading people’s minds, and healing people. These miraculous powers either suspend or transcend the natural law and order of nature.

But it is important to note that these miracles (in a few eras of the Old Testament, during the three-year ministry of Jesus and the apostolic age of the early church) occurred on rare occasions and were primarily done to authenticate the gospel message, validate Christ as the Messiah and the Son of God and to validate the apostles & prophets as true preachers of the divine message.

Now apart from the miraculous suspension of the natural law, God works in another way in the physical/temporal world through “providence.” Providence is how God works out His will without suspending or transcending/surpassing the natural law.

He works by organizing all the contingencies, people, movements, attitudes, choices, and decisions in an infinite number of variables. And He puts it all together to accomplish His exact will.

The way God works through His providence is an even greater act than a miracle. Because if you think about it, what would be easier? For God to say, “Okay, stop the natural law, I am going to do a miracle,” or to take a million free radical human beings and other variables flowing around randomly and organize them precisely to fulfill His exact will? The latter obviously.

If we want to understand the sovereign power of God, we must first look at it in His providence.

It is marvellous how God orders every single detail of our lives without overturning the natural law, without superseding the natural law, and without turning human beings into robots.

Yes, we all still make choices and do what we do, but God orders all of it to His own end and means. That is the true power of God’s sovereignty with an understanding of His providence.