Providence and President Trump

Twelve hours after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, I anxiously sat down for my morning devotions. Most days I check my “Life Calendar” to see what happened on this particular date in past years. (My “Life Calendar” can be found on pages 697-714 of One Small Life.)

On July 14, 1973, I recorded my belief in a vital truth:

“God is sovereign in history.” 

America learned that same lesson–again–on July 13, 2024.

Here are my thoughts on God’s Providence and attempted assassination of Donald Trump.

Providence and President Trump

When you ask the average American what “Providence” is, they will probably say it’s the capital of Rhode Island. (Do we still teach state capitals in the government schools?) 

That’s true, but why did some early colonists name their capital “Providence?”

During the winter of 1635-36, Roger Williams, a religious leader, left Salem, Massachusetts seeking religious freedom from the Plymouth Colony. A Wampanoag tribal hunting party gave him shelter in what is now Rhode Island. Williams later scouted the area in a canoe and established a community across the Seekonk River. He wrote:

“Having made covenant of peaceable neighborhood with all the sachems and natives round about us, and having, in a sense of God’s merciful providence unto me in my distress, [we] called the place PROVIDENCE, I desired it might be for a shelter for persons distressed [of] conscience.”

My favorite dictionary, Webster’s 1828 edition, defines Providence as 1) The care and superintendence which God exercises over his creatures, 2) Foresight, timely care, which is a source of great consolation to good [people], and 4) Divine providence is often understood as God himself.

Many people believe that God Himself sovereignly or providentially protected former president Trump from the assassin’s bullet on July 13. 

Gary Randall wrote:

“Former President Trump said he believes God shielded him from assassination during a rally in Pennsylvania, a sentiment echoed by several prominent Republicans.”

“It was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Sunday.” Later in the post, Trump expressed love for the families of the other shooting victims, including a firefighter who died and two others who were injured.

“In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win.” 

Many others commented on God’s providence (sovereignty) during the attempted assassination.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said: “God protected President Trump.” Rep. Carlos Antonio Gimenez (R-Fla.) told Fox News  that President Trump wasn’t gravely wounded or killed by “the grace of God.” Florida Congressman Cory Mills remarked that “divine intervention” and God’s “protective hand” foiled the assassination attempt.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wrote, “It was God who “protected President Trump yesterday.” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told Fox News: “Yesterday there were miracles, and I think the hand of God was there too.” Scalise  was shot and wounded during a congressional baseball team event in 2017. “You can just see one centimeter over and we’re having a very different conversation,” he said. 

The assassin’s bullet missed killing the 45th president by a mere quarter of an inch (as Trump turned his head). 

Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina told the Republican National Convention: “If you didn’t believe in miracles before Saturday, you got to be believing right now. Thank God almighty that we still live in a country that still believes in the King of kings and the Lord of lords.”

That’s a reference to Jesus Christ, the Creator of the universe (Colossians 1:16). 

 Intercessors for America shared this amazing story:

God answered our pleas for divine protection. President Trump himself was quick to credit God’s intervention for his survival in the assassination attempt. “Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers yesterday, as it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening,” he posted on Truth Social, “We will FEAR NOT, but instead remain resilient in our Faith and Defiant in the face of Wickedness. Our love goes out to the other victims and their families. We pray for the recovery of those who were wounded and hold in our hearts the memory of the citizen who was so horribly killed.”

A pastor by the name of Brandon Briggs had prophesied that there would be an assassination attempt on Donald Trump involving a bullet grazing his ear. In the video, which was uploaded on YouTube three months ago and is now going viral on X, Briggs states: “I saw Trump rising up, and then I saw an attempt on his life. This bullet flew by his ear and it came so close to his head it busted his eardrum. He fell to his knees during this timeframe and started to worship the Lord. He got radically born again during this timeframe; people are saying he’s saved now. But he becomes really on fire for Jesus.” 

This prophecy and Trump’s miraculous survival indicate that God has allowed a tragedy He foresaw and warned about for good: the intensification of Trump’s devotion to Him and the multiplication of His glory as the supernatural intervention of His hand is being made known.

Newt Gingrich wrote in Providence and President Trump that divine intervention and Providence have a long record in American history, including our first president.

When young George Washington went west with Maj. Gen. Edward Braddock’s British army in the French and Indian War, they were ambushed on July 9, 1755. Braddock was wounded when the battle began. The Army began to panic and fall apart. Washington, then-23 years old, took control and rallied the British troops saving them from annihilation.

Washington wrote his brother, “by the All-powerful Dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation; for I had four Bullets through my Coat, and two Horses shot under me; yet escaped unhurt, although Death was leveling my Companions on every side of me.”

Yes, God Himself is providential in our world. 

Providence is the opposite of deism, the belief that the Supreme Being or Creator is aloof and does not intervene in human affairs. The Bible says otherwise. He is actively involved in the details of our lives far beyond our understanding.

Jesus, the Creator, said that even a sparrow doesn’t fall to the ground without God’s notice, every hair on our head in numbered, and that human beings are worth far more than birds (Matthew 10:29-31). 

In the Bible, God’s Providence or sovereignty is specifically seen in directing history. That’s what I was reading on July 13, 1973 (providential acts in Israel in 2 Chronicles 11-20). Due to human sin, God must keep the world on track toward a full redemption and consummation in Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:19,20).

So he intervenes in the arc of history. 

God is also providential in each individual life–saving us, helping us, answering prayers, and guiding our path. This sovereign involvement must allow free choice with its sins and atrocities because we are moral beings. Sometimes assassins bullets are allowed to hit their targets (e.g. Presidents Lincoln and Kennedy). All of us experience pain and suffering in this fallen world which God superintends for good.

Ronald Reagan, after his brush with death in 1981, mused that he must live “the rest of his life for Him” (God).

I hope Donald Trump fulfills the prophecy above and does the same.

And let’s all pray that America returns to her historic faith in a just, merciful, and providential God.