In common use (and among those who accept the possibility) the realm of the supernatural is often placed over….and in contradistinction to Nature. Nature is self ordered and runs according to its own “inherent” rules; Super-nature (where it is acknowledged) is Spirit ordered, and runs according to a different set of rules.
Christian thinkers over the years have tried to illustrate the relationship between these conceptual realms. And while many find a distinction between nature and super-nature useful, it is often important to show that these two realms “touch” and are not at odds with one another. In his book Miracles, CS Lewis argues that miracles should not be thought of as violations of the rules of nature; rather -- miracles represent a variation within, or an addition to the standard way in which nature operates.
(Imagine for a moment that I have software downloaded on my computer. I might be sent a code that unleashes some before unknown component of the existing software, or I might be asked to “update” my software with a download. The new information does not “violate” the old information, though it may modify it, or add to it... In that same way, miracle might be thought of as a short term addition to the standard “rules.”
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Given that we now routinely use the worlds Natural and Supernatural, why use an “archaic” set of phrases, with somewhat similar meaning?
In short, there is, even in the Christian imagination, a tendency to think of nature as something which now operates pretty much on its own. God may have created the natural world, but now that He has made it, it is self regulating, self ordered. However, the phrase "Ordinary Providence" better maintains the biblical idea that nature in not a thing in itself. Nature is an ongoing manifestation of God’s work, indeed, it is held within His hand, and does not -- cannot operate on its own. For the Christian, all natural processes are “in God” . God is a necessary being, and if God were not, neither would nature be.
By using the term Ordinary Providence, we are reminded that nature herself is a manifestation of ongoing providence.
The following is an excerpt from a lecture on the Christian doctrine of "providence" as presented by a Reformed Pastor.
God's ability to do all his holy will, the certainty with which he executes his decrees, and the extent of his decrees to include all that occurs, has already been established in our previous lessons on the decrees of God.
The created physical universe includes more than just the energy-matter continuum. Built into it are the principles which govern how the parts of the universe affect one another and interact. We call these relationships physical laws. Since all that God has made, and all that his providence governs, is an execution of decrees, and since the decrees are ordered to the manifestation of God's nature and glory, we must accept that the operations of the universe are not inherent in the substance of the universe itself, but are imbedded in it as a direct intention of the Creator in fulfilling his eternal purposes.
Included in the plan of God is that at times he would act directly in ordering the course of things without following the laws by which he has decreed they should ordinarily be governed. When God uses and directs secondary causes (see previous discussion in Lessons 4 and 7) to accomplish his decreed ends we say this is a natural operation. But when God, acts directly upon the course of things, since he is not part of his own created order but is by definition above it, he is not bound to follow the ordinary principles of what we perceive to be physical laws. These immediate acts of God are termed supernatural. They do not violate natural law. It is more precise to say that such works of God involve principles that lie above and behind natural law. The motive comes from the eternal purpose of God which is also the cause of the ordinary relationships that govern the energy-matter continuum.
This is why the Confession says that God may freely work "without, above and against" his ordinary providence. Theologians distinguish these two strains of providence as "providential ordinaria" and "providentia extraordinaria" (ordinary and extraordinary providence). Sometime we call them general and special providence. (http://www.girs.com/library/theology/syllabus/theo8.html)
A good article on the difference between trascendent and non transcendent Miracles.
http://www.reasons.org/it%E2%80%99s-miracle-or-it
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