Are you familiar with the term “providence”? No not the city in Rhode Island, although it is a wonderful place to visit I am told. I mean divine providence. It is a theological term used to express God’s care and management of his creation.
It often is used to mean the hidden, patient enactment of God overriding the will and choice of human beings to accomplish his purposes. Using the term this way has a close association with the sovereignty of God. It has to do with what God allows and prohibits in the course of everyday life. When used in this way, my mind associates it with a puppet master pulling the strings to move his creation as he wants. Okay, I guess.
Yet what about free will? Even the tale of Pinocchio ends with the marionette becoming a “real boy”. Perhaps providence does not have as much to do with God being a puppet master as Him being a chess master. Chess is a game of interaction. A chess master does not just play the board but also the person on the other side who exercises free choice in the moves that are made. The chess master knows the tendencies, tricks and temptations of the one he is playing against. Without coercion the chess master lets the moves play out knowing the counter moves necessary to win the game.
We see this happening repeatedly throughout the stories or Joseph, Daniel, Esther and the like. So here is my best attempt to tie these threads together.
“Providence is the mysterious participation of the human will and divine will working behind the scenes for a desired outcome. As humans we do not have the capacity to see it clearly or control it completely but anticipate it expectantly and participate in it humbly.”
Larry A. Pozza