Heidelberg Catechism - Q27 and Q28

Several years ago, I picked up a book by Kevin DeYoung on the Heidelberg Catechism that we read as a family. I picked it up again and wanted to share the richness of this catechism written some 450 years ago. The catechism is written in a question and answer format. I'll share a few this week as I am led.

Q27.What do you understand by the providence of God?

A. Providence is the almighty and ever present power of God by which He upholds, as with His hand, heaven and earth and all creatures, and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty - all things, in fact, come to us not by chance but from His fatherly hand.

Q28. How does the knowledge of God's creation and providence help us?

A. We can be patient when things go against us, thankful when things go well, and for the future we can have good confidence in our faithful God and Father that nothing will separate us from His love. All creatures are so completely in His hand that without His will they can neither move nor be moved.

The last sentence impacted me the most when I read it: We cannot move unless it is the will of God. We cannot breathe outside of his will. Nothing happens to us and we do nothing outside of His will.