God is in Control
Psalm 103:19-22
I remember a particular time in my life when I was struggling a bit with discouragement, doubt, fear, and loneliness. I spent many evenings having long conversations with a close friend, to whom I poured out my heart for hours. Many times during these talks, my friend stopped me and said, “But remember, God is in control.” That statement became an anchor in my life. While in North Dakota there were many mornings, afternoons, and nights that I was discouraged. Couldn’t understand why is my opportunity and blessing here, why not closer to my family, children, and friends. NO matter how hard the winds blew or how much the adversity intensified, my soul remained anchored to that simple truth: God is in control. I am here to tell you that I couldn’t have made it up there in –40 temperatures for the last four years without God.
During that time, I discovered that when a person is able to face terrifying obstacles with the assurance that God is truly in control, an awesome sense of power, strength, assurance, and confidence begins to well up inside your heart. Sha’drach, Me’shach, and A-bed’-ne-go where able to face terrifying obstacles to worship their God. They were willing to go into the fiery furnace and risk their lives, because they knew God was in control and they weren’t going to worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. Remember church God is still in Control.
The psalmist David learned this lesson through a life of ups and downs, successes, and fierce challenges. In Psalm 103: 19-22, David praises God for his dominion, crying out, “the Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom ruleth over all. Here, David-Israel’s most beloved King-recognizes his humble submission to the One who sits on the heavenly throne, the Lord of all Creation.
David also introduces us to a vital aspect of God’s character, His complete sovereignty. What do we mean by sovereignty? This is a word that denotes God’s supreme and absolute rule, control, and authority over this entire universe and every single human being. In this He is all-powerful, all knowing, and all present.
There are many people in this world who either deny God’s existence or try to excuse Him from responsibility when bad things happen. In effect, even those who may seek to defend God are saying, “God exists, BUT He didn’t allow that. That happened without His consent.” What these people do not realize is that they are insulting and rejecting His complete sovereignty over all aspects of life.
Why do people do this? Why do they seem to stumble over or overlook God’s sovereignty? First, it is clear that these people do not understand the Word of God, which clearly teaches God’s complete control over Creation. Second, their idea of God is totally unbiblical and unfounded. They try to put God in a mold of what they think He should be like, and therefore replace His righteousness with their own. As a result, if anything happens that they may claim that God had nothing to do with it.
Let me ask you a question. If God is not in control, then who is? If no one or nothing is in control, does that mean that everything that happens is the result of chance or luck? Even Christians throw around the ideas of luck or good fortune. When I hear this, I immediately know that they do not understand God’s Word. Scripture is clear: God is not in the luck business; He is in the blessing business. Your luck will run out, but the blessings of the Lord, endures forever!
If we replace God’s sovereignty with sheer luck, we are simply saying that there is no plan or order in the universe, and we are the victims of our circumstances. If that is the case, then sometimes we’ll be happy, most of the time we’ll be unfulfilled, and we will always fear the future.
God does not want us to live like this. He is in absolute control of every single event in this life. He is Master over the things that affect His purpose for each of us.
How can we be sure? Let’s open God’s word and examine some passages that reveal His sovereignty. First, let me say that we will not find a passage in the Bible where God exclaims, “Thus saith the Lord God, I am sovereign. Rather than just using words, God uses life itself to reveal his absolute control.
If we are going to say that God uses life to reveal his sovereignty, then it s natural to begin our look at the biblical evidence in the very first word of scripture, Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Think about what this means: God created everything that exists out of nothing. He put this and every other world in its place and created galaxies, solar systems, gravity, time, space… literally every speck of matter in the universe. If He set all of this in motion, then He is more than able to sustain His creation for eternity.
Aside from Creation itself, the Old Testament reveals God’s control in every area, most notably over nature, nations, and even unbelievers. His dominion over nature is noted in the Psalms, as Psalm 135:6-7 explains, “Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and deep places. He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.
Psalm 104:14 further illustrates this point, “He causes the grass to grow for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;” This shows that despite man’s efforts, farming would be impossible if God did not raise the vegetation from the earth. Unlike man, God is not bound by nature; more than that, He is in total control of it.
Now, when we think about the history of the world and see how many nations have brought about pain, war, and bloodshed, it is easy to wonder if God was in control of these events. In the face of war, isn’t it easier to believe that vicious, volatile men are in control rather than God?
We need to understand that God is not worried about world dictators, because the only reason they are in positions of power is that God allowed them to be. Job 12:23 states, “He make the nations great, then destroys them; He enlarges the nations, and straitened them again.” Psalm 22:28 further stresses this idea, “For the kingdom of the Lord’s and He is the governor among the nations.”
So, we see that there is no nation, president, dictator, or army that does anything outside of God’s control. Now, this does not mean that we will understand why certain things happen. There are obviously some atrocities-such as the Slave trade and the Holocaust-that seem to defy explanation. However, we have the assurance of Scripture that even when we do not understand His plan-God remains in control of every nation.
Something else we often fail to understand is that God is sovereign over those who do not even believe in Him. How can God reign in the life of an unbeliever?
Daniel 4:28-37 tells a wonderful story about the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. In verse 30, the king reflects on his own greatness, saying, “Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?” How’s that for arrogance? This is a man who praised only himself for what God had allowed him to accomplish.
God heard Nebuchadnezzar’s boasts and in verses 31-32, the Lord responds, “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you.” God goes on to explain how He will humble the mighty king until he recognizes “that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whomever He wishes”
In verse 37, we see the king, after having gone through his humbling experience, proclaiming honor and praise to “the King of heaven.” Even this unbelieving ruler of a mighty nation realized that his control came only from God.
Because we know that God is in control, we can find peace in several assurances from the Father. Three points and I will get out of your way. First, we find comfort in the fact that almighty God-who is in absolute control of everything-is intimately and continually involved in our individual lives every single day. God never stops providing for, protecting, watching over, and caring for each of us. And, because He is sovereign and all knowing, He knows exactly what we need for today and tomorrow.
Second, because God is sovereign, we have the assurance that He will work out every single circumstance in our lives for something good, no matter what. It may be painful, hurtful, difficult, or seemingly impossible, but God can and will use that situation to achieve His divine purpose. Romans 8:28 makes this clear, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” This claim makes sense only when we realize that God is in complete control.
Third, we have to the assurance that nothing can touch us apart from the permissive will of God. Psalm 34:7 explains, “The angel of the Lord encamped around about them that fear him, and delivered them. This means that God is our protector. Now, when something happens that is painful or unexplainable in our lives, does that mean that God lost control for a moment? No, because we know that these things cannot happen unless God allows them. This hope enables us to step boldly into the future, because we know that God will be there for us, forever protecting us and guiding our steps.
Church, when you begin to understand that God is in complete control of this world and everything in it, your life will change forever. God is sovereign.
1. He is omniscient-He can answer your most trying questions.
2. He is omnipotent-He is strong enough to overcome your biggest obstacle.
3. He is omnipresent-wherever you may go; He will be there with you.
No matter what pain, trial, or tragedy comes your way, rejoice that your Father will be there to work it out for your good, no matter what.
