Acts of Providence.
Craig Manners
3rd January 2025
Many people have remarkable stories of seemingly miraculous acts of providence in their lives. One such occasion happened to me when I was around 18yo (1983). I was camping at a beach outside of Esperance with some of my friends from Kalgoorlie, and my sister Sarah and some of her Perth friends. One night we all went to a B&S Ball (Bachelor and Spinster Ball) held in a nearby farm shed. These balls were a major social occasion for young rural people (black tie).
The ball was a great night of dancing, eating and drinking which lasted well into the next morning. In fact, I recall the sun was just emerging when we started to leave to head back to the campsite.
My friends and I left the shed and walked toward the cars. I was getting a lift with my friend David Lavender in his two door V8 car (I think it was a Monaro from memory and was certainly a two door with a roof sloping down toward the boot.)
Another friend, Evan, baggsed the front seat, so I pulled the front seat forward and was about to hop into the back seat, when suddenly I felt a hand on my arm and turned to see my sister Sarah very forcefully pulling me toward her and saying very determinedly that, “ You are not going with them, they have had too much to drink, you are coming with me!”
Sarah left me with no choice and pulled me away. I told David and Evan, I would see them back at camp and went off with Sarah and her friends in the Subaru.
We took a while to leave the ball and were probably half an hour or so behind David and Evan.
As we drove along the gravel road nearing the campsite, we rounded a bend and saw David’s car all severely smashed up and upside down. We stopped and saw that there was no one inside, so we drove quickly to the campsite to see if they were okay.
Near the entrance were David and Evan, all covered in blood and worse for wear but thankfully alive. Just lots of scratches and bruises and being attended to by other campers.
When we stopped at the smashed-up car, we saw that the rear roof had well and truly collapsed into the rear seats! The reality of what I saw meant that if I had of been sitting in the back seat, I would most certainly have been dead, squashed between the roof and the seat of the back seat as the car rolled over and over a few times.
I didn’t think about the providential part of this for many years, as I didn’t become aware of God until I became a Christian when I was 33. But I have thought about this a lot since.
If God had not providentially used my sister Sarah that morning to lead me away from that certain death situation, I would not be writing this account. God used Sarah as His means to rescue me from certain death! That is God’s providence in action.
I later researched this topic of Providence when asked to give a talk in 2009 at South Yarra Presbyterian Church about John Calvin’s view on this topic, specifically as outlined in his book, “The Institutes of the Christian Religion.” The following are some excerpts from the article I wrote after the talk.
I thought this might be helpful to anyone reading this, and given my stage four cancer diagnosis in April 2024, and still ongoing, I have found it helpful to re-visit this topic.
Calvin reminds us in 1.16.9 (of the Institutes) that though all things are ordained by God's plan, yet the events of our lives and world often look to us as if they are random and fortuitous. As Calvin says "the order, reason, end, and necessity of those things which happen for the most part lie hidden in God's purpose”.
God always has a purpose. Adversity may be for reproof, for chastisement, for bringing a Christian to a deeper reliance of and trust in God, for the prevention of sin, for humility or to punish the wicked for example. We should always hold back on any rash judgements of situations and just know that God is always good and wise.
Consequently, no mature believer will weigh the matter of God's providence without assuming a posture of reverence, awe and humility (1.17.2).[12]
Calvin develops three practical observations concerning the doctrine of providence:
1- The Doctrine of Providence helps us to face adversity properly. When we realize that the difficulties and setbacks we experience do not come ultimately from the hand of man but from the hand of God, we are able to control the "anger and impatience" that tempt us in those situations (1.17.8). In times of adversity, we will look to God and wait patiently for His good and perfect purposes to be fulfilled. We therefore should not grumble and complain at the circumstances of our lives but rather trust and obey our sovereign God who is in full control of everything.
2- The Doctrine of Providence teaches us how to use means. As we face an uncertain future, we "entrust and submit" ourselves "to God's wisdom," and entrust the outcome to God's hand.
3- The Doctrine of Providence is the stay and support of the believer. Danger, disease, and death face every person every moment of the day. Neither unbeliever nor believer is exempt from the "innumerable evils that beset human life" (1.17.10). Should the believer respond to these uncertainties with anxiety, fear, and care, Calvin asks? No! "His solace, I say, is to know that his Heavenly Father so holds all things in his power, so rules by his authority and will, so governs by his wisdom, that nothing can befall except he determine it" (1.17.11). [17]
So, in conclusion then, by the proper consideration of providence we should be delivered from much care and worry. We know that God is carefully directing absolutely every single aspect of our lives.
If God knew us before we were born (Jeremiah 1:5); if He knows every hair on our heads (Luke 12:7); if not one bird falls from the sky without His say so (Matthew 10:29); if he controls the moon and the sun (Psalm 104:19); if He works all things, good and bad for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28); and if He has pre-determined our earthly days (Job 14:5), should we not simply focus our energy and attention toward obeying our loving God as He has revealed Himself to us in His Word the Bible?
Should we not calmly and confidently move through each and every crisis in our lives, looking to God, trusting Him and patiently, joyfully looking for how He is going to bring glory to Himself through those situations?
All is well if you have your trust in Jesus as your Christ and Saviour. Faced with death, the believer can confidently know he or she is going to Heaven and can be comforted with the true knowledge that if his or her loved ones also put their trust in Jesus, the only name given to us for salvation (ACTS 4:12), they will be together for eternity.
So, I confidently say to my beloved wife and children especially, and also to my wider family and friends, put your trust in Christ Jesus, follow God's way outlined in the Bible, and you will have the best possible earthly lives, and we will be together for all eternity.
Craig Manners
Article from 2009:
Creation and Providence by Craig Manners - Craig Manners
https://www.craigmanners.com/creation-and-providence-by-craig-manners.html
Craig Manners
3rd January 2025
Many people have remarkable stories of seemingly miraculous acts of providence in their lives. One such occasion happened to me when I was around 18yo (1983). I was camping at a beach outside of Esperance with some of my friends from Kalgoorlie, and my sister Sarah and some of her Perth friends. One night we all went to a B&S Ball (Bachelor and Spinster Ball) held in a nearby farm shed. These balls were a major social occasion for young rural people (black tie).
The ball was a great night of dancing, eating and drinking which lasted well into the next morning. In fact, I recall the sun was just emerging when we started to leave to head back to the campsite.
My friends and I left the shed and walked toward the cars. I was getting a lift with my friend David Lavender in his two door V8 car (I think it was a Monaro from memory and was certainly a two door with a roof sloping down toward the boot.)
Another friend, Evan, baggsed the front seat, so I pulled the front seat forward and was about to hop into the back seat, when suddenly I felt a hand on my arm and turned to see my sister Sarah very forcefully pulling me toward her and saying very determinedly that, “ You are not going with them, they have had too much to drink, you are coming with me!”
Sarah left me with no choice and pulled me away. I told David and Evan, I would see them back at camp and went off with Sarah and her friends in the Subaru.
We took a while to leave the ball and were probably half an hour or so behind David and Evan.
As we drove along the gravel road nearing the campsite, we rounded a bend and saw David’s car all severely smashed up and upside down. We stopped and saw that there was no one inside, so we drove quickly to the campsite to see if they were okay.
Near the entrance were David and Evan, all covered in blood and worse for wear but thankfully alive. Just lots of scratches and bruises and being attended to by other campers.
When we stopped at the smashed-up car, we saw that the rear roof had well and truly collapsed into the rear seats! The reality of what I saw meant that if I had of been sitting in the back seat, I would most certainly have been dead, squashed between the roof and the seat of the back seat as the car rolled over and over a few times.
I didn’t think about the providential part of this for many years, as I didn’t become aware of God until I became a Christian when I was 33. But I have thought about this a lot since.
If God had not providentially used my sister Sarah that morning to lead me away from that certain death situation, I would not be writing this account. God used Sarah as His means to rescue me from certain death! That is God’s providence in action.
I later researched this topic of Providence when asked to give a talk in 2009 at South Yarra Presbyterian Church about John Calvin’s view on this topic, specifically as outlined in his book, “The Institutes of the Christian Religion.” The following are some excerpts from the article I wrote after the talk.
I thought this might be helpful to anyone reading this, and given my stage four cancer diagnosis in April 2024, and still ongoing, I have found it helpful to re-visit this topic.
Calvin reminds us in 1.16.9 (of the Institutes) that though all things are ordained by God's plan, yet the events of our lives and world often look to us as if they are random and fortuitous. As Calvin says "the order, reason, end, and necessity of those things which happen for the most part lie hidden in God's purpose”.
God always has a purpose. Adversity may be for reproof, for chastisement, for bringing a Christian to a deeper reliance of and trust in God, for the prevention of sin, for humility or to punish the wicked for example. We should always hold back on any rash judgements of situations and just know that God is always good and wise.
Consequently, no mature believer will weigh the matter of God's providence without assuming a posture of reverence, awe and humility (1.17.2).[12]
Calvin develops three practical observations concerning the doctrine of providence:
1- The Doctrine of Providence helps us to face adversity properly. When we realize that the difficulties and setbacks we experience do not come ultimately from the hand of man but from the hand of God, we are able to control the "anger and impatience" that tempt us in those situations (1.17.8). In times of adversity, we will look to God and wait patiently for His good and perfect purposes to be fulfilled. We therefore should not grumble and complain at the circumstances of our lives but rather trust and obey our sovereign God who is in full control of everything.
2- The Doctrine of Providence teaches us how to use means. As we face an uncertain future, we "entrust and submit" ourselves "to God's wisdom," and entrust the outcome to God's hand.
3- The Doctrine of Providence is the stay and support of the believer. Danger, disease, and death face every person every moment of the day. Neither unbeliever nor believer is exempt from the "innumerable evils that beset human life" (1.17.10). Should the believer respond to these uncertainties with anxiety, fear, and care, Calvin asks? No! "His solace, I say, is to know that his Heavenly Father so holds all things in his power, so rules by his authority and will, so governs by his wisdom, that nothing can befall except he determine it" (1.17.11). [17]
So, in conclusion then, by the proper consideration of providence we should be delivered from much care and worry. We know that God is carefully directing absolutely every single aspect of our lives.
If God knew us before we were born (Jeremiah 1:5); if He knows every hair on our heads (Luke 12:7); if not one bird falls from the sky without His say so (Matthew 10:29); if he controls the moon and the sun (Psalm 104:19); if He works all things, good and bad for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28); and if He has pre-determined our earthly days (Job 14:5), should we not simply focus our energy and attention toward obeying our loving God as He has revealed Himself to us in His Word the Bible?
Should we not calmly and confidently move through each and every crisis in our lives, looking to God, trusting Him and patiently, joyfully looking for how He is going to bring glory to Himself through those situations?
All is well if you have your trust in Jesus as your Christ and Saviour. Faced with death, the believer can confidently know he or she is going to Heaven and can be comforted with the true knowledge that if his or her loved ones also put their trust in Jesus, the only name given to us for salvation (ACTS 4:12), they will be together for eternity.
So, I confidently say to my beloved wife and children especially, and also to my wider family and friends, put your trust in Christ Jesus, follow God's way outlined in the Bible, and you will have the best possible earthly lives, and we will be together for all eternity.
Craig Manners
Article from 2009:
Creation and Providence by Craig Manners - Craig Manners
https://www.craigmanners.com/creation-and-providence-by-craig-manners.html