Is God Still in Control?
Job 1: 6-12
January 22, 2006
Reverend William A. Huegel
First Baptist Church of Wallingford
A messenger came to Job and said, “Sir, I have some very bad news. “The Oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby and the enemies from the East came by and attacked. They stole the animals and killed your servants, and I’m the only one who has escaped to tell you.”
The problem is that he was barely done getting his message out before another person came along and said, “Sir, I have some very bad news. We were out in the field watching your sheep and Sir, The worse lightening storm I have ever witnessed crashed down from the sky, and within minutes all your sheep were dead and the shepherds were killed along with them. Sir! I’m the only one who has escaped to tell you.”
He was barely done speaking when yet another messenger came and said, “Sir, I have some very bad news. Enemies from the South came sweeping down upon us and stole all of your camels and killed your servants, and I’m the only one who has escaped to tell you.”
And, unbelievably, he was barely done speaking when even another servant came along and said, “Sir! You needed to be seated for this. I have terrible news. Your sons and your daughters were feasting and drinking in their oldest brother’s house when a tornado swept in smashed the house with all of them in it, and sir, they are all dead. And I am the only one who has escaped to tell you.”
I don’t know what you would have done. I know what I would have thought. I would have said:
- “My God! What are you doing?”
- “My God, what is going on?”
- “God, what did I do to deserve this?”
- “God, are you still in your heaven?”
- “Jesus, I thought that you loved me!”
- “God, are you still in control of this world?”
Who is in control? Who is calling the shots? I used to sing, “He’s got the Whole World in His Hands”, but today, I’m not so sure.”
2006 was a terrible year. Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Wilma, fires out West, tornadoes in the mid-west, Earthquakes in Pakistan--all of which just followed the great Tsunami in Indonesia and surrounding countries.
Don’t you ever wonder why we suffer? Is God still in control, and if He is, what is the purpose and the meaning of all this? Can’t God control the winds anymore like he did on the Sea of Galilee, or is this some kind of judgment--if so, what are we to learn?
As long as other people suffer, I can glibly tell you that God is testing them, that it’s some kind of judgment, and that there are indeed lessons to learn. But when it falls on me, I wonder, “Oh God! Why me? What did I do? God are you still in control?”
You see, my problem is that I believe in God.
- I believe God is all-powerful.
- I believe that God is all knowing.
- I believe that God is in control.
- I believe that God is good – He is not evil.
- I believe that God does not take some kind of sadistic pleasure in seeing people suffer.
Years ago, I read the book by Rabbi Harold Kushner, whose son died of a rare childhood disease called “Progeria” in which he began to age very rapidly. So, at age 10 he looked like a 70 year old man. What a bad joke of genetic mutations! Stuff like that makes me wonder “Who’s in control around here, anyway?”
Out of his great pain, Rabbi Kushner wrote a book, “Why Bad Things Happen to Good People”. It’s a classic. I loved reading it. I had the privilege of hearing him speak in person. We all listened intently. You could hear a pin drop in the room, but his conclusion was that there are some things God just can’t do. He said, “If a person points a gun at you and pulls the trigger, you just can’t expect God to jump in front of you and deflect the bullet”. God is no mythical superman! If God could have prevented the Holocaust and He didn’t, then that would prove that God is some kind of irresponsible monster.” He wasn’t willing to go there. He concluded that God cares. When we weep, God weeps with us.
I like it, except for one thing. If there are some things that God cannot do, then it’s time to redefine God. You can’t really say he is “Omnipotent – all-powerful”--not if there are some things He cannot do. If there are some things God cannot do, then He really isn’t in charge of everything. If God cannot control everything, then some things are out of control!
That’s not the understanding of the writer of the book of Job. Let me tell you a number of things that this writer understands.
1. There is a drama being played out in heavenly places. It’s a drama of good and evil. God allows Satan to deceive himself into thinking he has some power. It’s an evil power, opposed to everything that is good. The desire of Satan is to destroy, devour, demean, and to damn. It’s the desire of Evil to combat the powers of Good. Satan uses pain, sickness, loss, death, sadness, and depression to lead people to give up on God and on being good.
2. Job’s devil is personal. He has a personality. He talks to God. He stupidly challenges God, but we are not to see it as tempting God. God cannot be tempted to do evil. God does not give into Satan. God simply allows him to do his dirty work to test the saints; thus, God uses evil for His ultimate good. He remains completely in control.
Furthermore, He can never rest – can never relax. Satan is seen as “roaming” the earth. He’s always on the move--"from roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it."
3. The writer wants us to understand that God cannot do evil. Actually, it is the one thing God cannot do. It is not in His nature. God, literally, doesn’t have it in Him. God is all good, entirely good, and completely good, and He cannot do evil.
4. Additionally, Satan cannot do good. Evil is the only thing Satan can do. In fact, Satan is incapable of doing any good thing. Any good he does is for the express purpose of deception, so that you think it’s good, but in fact, his goal is to deceive and to destroy.
5. Also, God uses Satan for His own purposes – not visa versa. God is entirely in control of this situation. God permits Satan to harm Job and His family, and without that permission, Satan can do nothing. Furthermore, God sets the limits. The Evil One can only go so far in his destructive work.
6. Tests are ultimately for our good. God did not allow evil to come to Job neither because He hated him, nor because He was angry or upset with him. Amazingly, He allowed evil to come precisely because He loved him. The tragedies Job would face would be for his ultimate good. His character would be strengthened. His faith would be deepened. He would be able to help a lot more people because of what he went through. He would be honored and blessed all the more, so long as he came through this test faithfully.
God loves His people. God loves everyone – so much that He sent Jesus to die for us and to forgive us all of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. God has a special love for those who are faithful, who are obedient to His commands, and who trust in Him.
God is indeed in control of this universe. He controls the events of history. We don’t always understand what He is doing and why, but we are always to trust Him, be faithful to Him, do the right thing anyway, and believe that God will work it all out in the end.
