Snuggled Up Tight in Providence
July 12, 2021 • by Holly Mackle
There’s a quilt from my grad school days that I just pulled out for a refresh. Lacking a sham for the now-desired decorative pair of shams, I went on a Google deep dive—Etsy, eBay, and likely several hacker-front-companies (How exactly does one know when one stumbles onto the dark web??). No luck on any fronts, except all the “luck” I could have ever hoped for.
I had long forgotten the name of the quilt I was trying to match, so the first part of the deep dive was finding its name in order to make the rest of the Googling far more reasonable than “quilt.” Knowing the store name, it didn’t take too long to spot, and I squeaked an audible squeak when I saw that the quilt is called providence.
I see you there, God. Or should I refer to you by my friend Dana’s lesser known name for you: Jehovah Sneaky?
A Life Wrapped in Providence
To appreciate the name providence, you need to know that this quilt has seen some days. It’s been cried into over great guys and dumb tests and dumb guys. It’s been pulled up around my neck when I was scared as I slept alone in that grad school apartment, watching way too much Newlyweds with Nick and Jessica and hoping that one day I would get to have such a solid relationship (Listen, it’s called providence, not prediction).
Later, it was moved from house to house, a bulky what-do-we-do-with-it-but-we-can't-get-rid-of-it item from the early days of our zero-closet-space-starter-home marriage. It’s been spread on the floor, a tea party spot for high-spirited toddlers. It’s been a rest zone for two-days-post-tonsillectomy kiddos hyped on equal doses of pain meds and episodes of Doc McStuffins. Now it graces our bed in a home we’ve dreamed of and hoped for . . .
And it’s called providence. Providence!
“Divine Providence underscores God’s goodness, especially to the believer in Jesus”
God’s Sovereignty and God’s Providence
I used to think that God’s sovereignty and his Providence were interchangeable, but it is especially sweet to recognize and appreciate their differences.
Sovereignty is God’s orchestration over every single detail of life and limb, history and time, emotion and circumstance, etcetera and etcetera. It highlights his ability to do anything he chooses, whenever he chooses.
Providence takes that one step further. In the midst of all that ability, divine Providence underscores God’s goodness, especially to the believer in Jesus. Providence can be understood as God’s special care and concern over his elect children in every moment and arena of life, to bring about their ultimate good and to adorn his glory. J. I. Packer defines it as the “unceasing activity of the Creator whereby, in overflowing bounty and goodwill, he upholds his creatures in ordered existence, guides and governs all events, circumstances, and free acts of angels and men, and directs everything to its appointed goal, for his own glory.”
Neither Providence nor sovereignty detract from our willfully sinful responses—we still choose to sin of our own accord. But in his kindness, God knew the depth of our need and the vast breadth of our wicked choices before we did, and he met that need in the planned sacrifice of Christ, which reconciled believers to God.
Hidden Under the Wing of Providence
Providence is not a promise that no harm will come to us as believers, but it is the assertion that any harm or sorrow that comes has come through Jesus first, and that we will be equipped and empowered in Christ to respond according to our fully imputed righteousness. This unique distinction reminds me of the beauty of Psalm 91, “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart” (v. 4).
Christ, the wing, was not spared for us. It was indeed his faithfulness that took the blow on our behalf. But no battering could destroy him as he protected us with the might of God himself, and “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty” (v. 1). When I manage to remember that, it makes a difference in my day.
This whole wing thing—it’s what a bird does when their young are threatened by attack. Pulled under the wing, into the breast of the mama or daddy bird, hidden and protected, safe from danger, warm and close to their heartbeat. You don’t have to be an Audubon Society member to appreciate the metaphor.
“Christ, the wing, was not spared for us. It was indeed his faithfulness that took the blow on our behalf. ”
Wings, Blankets, Assurance, and Hope
I’ve crawled up under the literal blanket called providence a whole bunch of times, and I’ve hidden under the wing called Providence more times than I can count, and certainly more times than I know.
When it looks like a physical, emotional, or spiritual case for Doc McStuffins’ Big Book of Boo Boos, I hope to remember the quilt called providence, and maybe tuck myself or my loved one up in it (Maybe only metaphorically but wouldn’t literally be kind of awesome too??).
The other day I did a brave (to me) thing. I sat on the quilt called providence and hit submit on something that will probably end in rejection. And maybe not, but possibly-probably. And I’m good with it. Content, even. And isn’t that what I want anyway? Full assurance that in Christ I’m accepted in spite of my lack of worthiness or ridiculous attempts at it. Full cozy in knowing that my safety is secure in the guarantee that solely Christ brings. Full confidence that all his plans for me will bring about my ultimate good and adorn his glory.
If the banner over us is love (Song of Sol. 2:4), then the worn, cozy, perfectly-tattered quilt draped around us is Providence. It’s always backing us, even in failure—literal or perceived. It envelops us, absorbs our tears, keeps us warm on chilly nights, and provides the perfect spot to invite our family members and friends to cozy up, wrapped in its sweetly scented mix of history and the hope of things to come.
Holly Mackle is a lower school librarian, wife, mother, curator of the mom humor collaboration Same Here, Sisterfriend, Mostly True Tales of Misadventures in Motherhood, and author of the family Advent devotional Little Hearts, Prepare Him Room. Holly’s Realtor husband, David, can plate a Lean Pocket like a James Beard Award winner, and together they wrangle two young girls in Birmingham, Alabama. Find her on Instagram.
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