Is God really in control?

“Let’s Pretend God Really is Sovereign”

Doug Feil, MS, LPC

The truth is God is sovereign (Genesis 15:2; Exodus 23:17; Joshua 7:7; Psalm 71:5, etc.).  God’s sovereignty is mentioned in 24 books of the Bible. Webster defines sovereign as “supreme ruler, superior to all others in power, influence, and importance.”  God is in total control at all times, even when horrible events occur that are not from Him.  The fact that tragedy and sin occur all around us and the suffering and affliction that comes with it, God is still sovereign.

As powerful and incomprehensible as God’s sovereignty is, we humans are no slouches either!  We have developed a tool that in mere nanoseconds completely neutralizes God’s awesome sovereignty.  What is this incredibly powerful weapon? It is the mighty “yeah, but…”  How does it work?  Allow me to illustrate.

You just lost your job.  Finances are desperate, and your self-esteem is falling.  Someone who is trying to help reminds you that God is not shocked nor caught by surprise by these events.  Since He is sovereign, He can help you.  How do you respond?  “Yeah, but the job market is really bad” or “Yeah, but we are totally broke.”  See how it works?

You are consumed by fear.  Your spouse wants a divorce.  You are facing tragedy in your life.  So how do we respond?  “Yeah, but…”

Why do we choose to neutralize God’s sovereignty precisely when it can help us?  To feel in control?  To prevent ourselves from hoping, because we believe that if we get our hopes up and then get disappointed that it will hurt worse than if we don’t hope at all.  Evidently, we have figured out a truth that some things are actually impossible with God.  Fortunately for all of us, this is a lie.

So when we encounter challenges, it can help to say “If I pretended God really is sovereign in this situation right now, what can I do?” Then we are facing our challenges in life with the Sovereign Lord right where He needs to be – in charge!

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