“I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes – that every particle of spray that dashes against the steamboat has its orbit, as well as the sun in the heavens – that the chaff from the hand of the winnower is steered as the stars in their courses. The creeping of an aphid over the rosebud is as much fixed as the march of the devastating pestilence – the fall of leaves from a poplar is as fully ordained as the tumbling of an avalanche…What is fate? Fate is this: whatever is, must be. But there is a difference between that and Providence. Providence says that whatever God ordains must be. But the wisdom of God never ordains anything without purpose. Everything in this world is working for some great end. Fate does not say that…There is all the difference between fate and Providence that there is between a man with good eyes and a blind man…He who has faith is better than the stoic. The stoic philosopher bore it because he believed it must be. The Christians bears it because he believes it is working for his good.”
Worldly Saints 