The Bible teaches that God, through Christ, preserves all things. Colossians 1:17: “And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” And in Hebrews 1:3: “he upholds the universe by the word of his power.”
God’s involvement appears to be a continuing activity. Matthew 6:26, “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” These and many other verses indicate God’s ongoing preservation of the creation. God’s active involvement with His creation is very explicitly called out in the doctrine of concurrence.
Grudem provides us with a concise definition for this doctrine: “God cooperates with created things in every action, directing their distinctive properties to cause them to act as they do.”
The Bible tells us God is involved in all the activities of nature. For example Ps 135:7 says, “He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.” And in Job 37:10-11, “By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast. He loads the thick cloud with moisture; the clouds scatter his lightning.”
God is also intimately involved in the life of the believer. In Psalm 139:14-16, David thanks God, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”
In Ephesians 1:11 Paul tells us, “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will…” And in Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
We note from this doctrine of concurrence that God’s engagement is assured, but it is not clearly recognizable in the natural events in the world around us. The work of His hand is hidden. This doctrine clearly speaks against deism.
This doctrine of concurrence is very relevant to our discussion of natural randomness. The Bible clearly teaches that God is in control of random events. The casting of lots mentioned in the Bible is very analogous to our earlier example of flipping a coin. In Proverbs 16:33, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” What is particularly relevant in this verse is that we are assured that God is not simply in control of macroscopically determinative processes like the weather, but every event and process that is random and might be viewed as governed by “chance.”
We may not see God’s hand directing the casting of the lot, the flipping of the coin or the roll of the dice. However, we are assured by Scripture that God is in control of these and all apparently random events. God’s hand may not be seen in the birth of every child, but Scripture indicates that it is. While we have this assurance, it does not make the doctrine of providence any easier to understand. Scripture does not provide the insight to understand this. But, it does assure us that this is within the capacity of an omnipotent God.
