2. FIGUREHEAD OR FULLY ENGAGED?

The Phillips Translation renders 1 Timothy 6:15 as: “God…is the blessed controller of all things, the King over all kings and the Master of all masters.” I like the word “controller.” Being in control is something most of us wish for ourselves. We desperately want to chart our own course and be masters of our own fate, as the saying goes. Anger and frustration dog our days when we discover that we have little, if any, control over anything!

The state of our world and the chaos of the society in which we live constantly drive us toward this inevitable conclusion: If there isn’t someone out there with more control than we do, we are in serious trouble.

Onto this perilous world stage comes the only One who has absolute control, the One sovereign over all.

The dictionary defines sovereignty as “supreme power or authority.” Other words, specifically applied to rulers and used to describe “sovereign,” include: absolute, unlimited, and ultimate. When we say “supreme” being, we are referring to the strongest, the highest, the greatest, the most extraordinary. This is our God.

We immediately return to that recurring question that many people, believers and non-believers alike, will ask. If God is in control of everything and is powerful, then why doesn’t He heal disease, stop wars, or punish evil? If He can and doesn’t, then how can He be called “good”? If He is good and doesn’t deal with all the evil in the world, then He must not be in control of everything. He must not be powerful.

But we learn from the Scriptures that God is both all-powerful (omnipotent) and good.

Whether God is both good and powerful is a question that often arises from a reluctance to believe that so-called “bad” things come from God’s hand. We happily attribute the “good” things to Him. We habitually talk about the providence of God only in relation to the good things that happen. But what do we do with the bad?

How do you react to the idea that even so-called “bad” events are under God’s control and part of His divine design?

Let’s take a closer look at God’s providence. First, He cares for the world He created. Some believe God created and then walked away, letting everything proceed “naturally.” Others consider Him an absentee landlord or a slumlord. Has God walked away from His creation, or does He simply not care? The Scripture tells us a different story.

Hebrews 1:3 says: “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” Notice the present tense. God, specifically Jesus the Son, is still sustaining all things. He is still speaking. He is still working.

God, His relationship to His creation, and our role as its caretakers are the subjects of another study. Jesus not only showed us the Father by coming and living with us; He also continues to be the hand at work behind the scenes in all that He has created. The laws that govern the universe work only because He wills them to. The seasons come and go, the rain falls, and gravity holds because He maintains the system He put in place and keeps His promises related to those systems.

Colossians 1:17 affirms this: “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” We seldom consider the weight of this truth in our daily lives until it seems the world is falling apart. When earthquakes strike and hurricanes hit, and a meteor brushes close, we think of a natural world “out of control.” Not so. He who holds it all together releases it for His purposes. The stars are under His hand. New ones are created as He dictates. Old ones fall at His command. Isaiah 40:26 shows us the intimacy of God’s relationship to even those parts of His creation that are not sentient. “Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.”

The people of God understood this. As the Jews returned to Jerusalem from exile under Nehemiah’s leadership, they paused to confess their sins and to celebrate God’s goodness in bringing them home. As part of their praise and worship, we have these words recorded in Nehemiah 9:5, 6: “…Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.”

God interrupts the cycles of nature to accomplish His purposes. For example, when sin could no longer be endured, God sent a flood. For a year the cycle of planting and harvest, the signs of the seasons, were held in abeyance. God’s promise to Noah and his descendants after the great flood points to the control He continues to exercise over the rhythms of life. Genesis 8:22 says, “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”

God did not walk away from His world and does not walk away from it. Psalm 147:8-9; 15-18: “He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills. He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call…He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes. He hurls down hail like pebbles. Who can withstand his icy blast? He sends his word and melts them; he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow.” Once again, take note of that present tense.

Psalm 19:1-4 reminds us that “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hand. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech; they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth; their words to the ends of the world.”

God has spoken through His Word and continues to speak through the natural world.

What comes to your mind about God as you think about His sovereignty over the rhythms of nature?

We often fall into the humanist trap of referring to the natural world as being under the control of “Mother Nature.” This helps us avoid attributing anything we consider bad to Him. If we could guarantee that earthquakes, floods, volcanoes, and similar events had no impact on humankind, we might be more prone to accept God’s hand behind even these disasters. But often, nature’s violence does affect humans. Disasters rarely seem to happen somewhere that doesn’t affect someone. People die, lose everything, and are adversely affected, and we don’t understand why.

We want to explain the disaster away, come up with some scientific explanation, anything that leaves God out of the equation. The unbelieving world does it because it doesn’t want to hear God’s voice through His natural world and be forced to acknowledge Him. The believing world does it, so it doesn’t have to wrestle with the thought that God sends the bad with the good.

We seem to need to explain God’s actions, and when we fail, we become less sure of the depth of the faith upon which we claim to stand. Any explanation we can offer about God will be inadequate. Nor does He need to be defended by us. But let’s go one step further. God not only controls nature but also exercises control over us, the human part of His creation.

Acts 17:24-28 clearly describes what God determines for the human part of His creation. This passage is part of Paul’s address to the philosophers gathered on the Areopagus in Athens. “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own prophets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’”

Look at those three underlined phrases. Think back on your own personal history. How do the truths expressed in these three statements impact you?

God gives us life and sustains it. He places us where we need to be so that we can be drawn to Him. What an amazing thought! In his Confessions, Augustine describes how this truth worked in his life. He was determined to seek employment in Italy, but his mother resisted. She was convinced that her son needed to stay with her in Carthage. She was a believer, and he was not. Monica believed that her influence was necessary to bring him to faith.

Augustine lied to his mother so he could take ship and head for Italy without her knowledge. He writes: “…it was to save my soul that you obliged me to go and live elsewhere…In secret, you were using my own perversity and theirs to set my feet upon the right course…During the night, secretly, I sailed away, leaving her alone to her tears and her prayers. And what did she beg of you, my God, with all those tears, if not that you would prevent me from sailing? But you did not do as she asked you then. Instead, in the depth of your wisdom, you granted the wish that was closest to her heart.”

Augustine had a divine appointment with the person whom God would use to bring him to faith.

Paul’s message to the philosophers in Athens mentions boundaries. God sets limits for nations. We will examine God’s sovereignty and the nations in more detail in another chapter. But the question arises: Does God set boundaries for people, for us? David seems to imply this in Psalm 16. He praises God for the blessings he has received from the Lord and says: “Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup, you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.”

I remember how my mother set my “boundary lines” when I was very young. We lived then in a second-floor apartment. The house had a huge grassy backyard. It was a great place for kids to play, but my mother couldn’t keep an eye on us all the time from the apartment. In those days, it was permissible (and normal) for people to hang their washing out to dry. Because the yard was so big, our clothesline was long, running the full length of the yard from the house to the back fence. I had a harness that my mother put me in when she took me away from the house. She hooked the end of the harness to the clothesline. I could run the whole length of the yard to my heart’s content without getting in trouble or escaping from the yard. She set the limits for my protection. Today that might be considered abuse. But I am grateful for it because I know how many times I could have died if she hadn’t protected me from my own adventurous self.

Personally, I rather like David’s idea that God sets limits, establishing “boundary lines” for where I go and where I can’t go, to protect me from dangers I might encounter that I don’t need to experience.

The idea that God controls our lives, including where we end up living, is daunting to some. David doesn’t find it onerous. He writes in Psalm 31, “But I trust in you, Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me.” Three things strike me here. 1. David acknowledges God as HIS God, whatever happens. 2. David acknowledges that his life is under God’s control. 3. He prays for deliverance, knowing that God is in control, whatever happens.

There is nothing that says we shouldn’t pray for deliverance from whatever we are facing. We are not fatalists who simply fold our hands, believing we are only pieces on a chessboard. We are in relationship with the Mover and Shaper of all things and have been invited to participate with Him in this experience called life. We have ample evidence that prayers like David’s are encouraged among the faithful. This prayer connection is integral to our relationship with the Almighty. In fact, such prayers remind us how dependent we are on a sovereign God. We pray with complete trust in the One who is our God, the One who controls our going out of this world just as He controlled our coming into it. He controls all that happens in between those two events.

Take a look at your prayers. Do they more often insist on your will being done than they express your dependence on God and your trust in whatever is His will?”

Many will recall the saying: “Timing is everything!” According to Wiktionary, the saying means: “Consideration of other events can greatly influence some desired outcome.” Because we cannot see into the future, we are unable to consider those events and incorporate them into the outcomes we hope to see in our lives. We are unaware of so much that is happening around us. We can’t ferret out the machinations behind those events. Planning for our future, then, turns out to be guesswork at best. But God, who knows everything (omniscience), is not limited by the lack of awareness that limits us. Every detail of our lives has already been planned by the Divine hand. Paul reminds his protégé, Timothy, that God often keeps those details to Himself. Christ’s second appearing “…which God will bring about in his own time” is an example. We don’t know the details of that return (though many have tried to work out the timetable and the specifics). We really don’t need the details. We simply need to believe that it will happen as God ordains it and that we will be with Him. Jesus has made a commitment to those who believe in Him, and we trust Him to keep those promises.

The world believes that life’s fortunes are the result of hard work, the “luck of the draw,” being born in the right place at the right time in the right neighbourhood, or knowing the right people in the right places. But in the end, God holds our times and the fortunes that come with them in His hands. 1 Chronicles 29:12 reminds us, “Wealth and honour come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.”

What would you like God to hurry up and do in your life right now? Anxiety sets in when we feel that, for whatever reason, God is dragging his feet. If God’s timing is always perfect, how should your response to what seems like an interminable waiting period change?

We are told that He supplies food for us: “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work…Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food…” Jesus taught His disciples not to worry about their basic needs. Rather, they were to dedicate themselves to putting God and His kingdom’s business first and to let the Almighty look after their needs.

This was not an argument for laziness. Scripture contains many references to the importance of working, carrying one’s weight in society, and avoiding those who won’t work. This passage from Matthew, part of Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount, is a lesson about priorities. It is a reminder of who God is and of what He is committed to as the Lord of our lives.

The Almighty God, Ruler of the universe, Sustainer of all there is, seems far removed from the mundane details of life. Surely He can’t be concerned with all those little things that concern us? But Scripture is clear that a God in control IS in control of even those small things. Matthew 10:29-31 assures us, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”

In some Bibles, a small letter or number appears beside the phrase “…your Father’s care.” This points to an alternate reading or explanation at the bottom of the page or in the margin. The reference to “care” can also be read as “will” or “knowledge.” Sparrows fall. In the context of the passage, we see that Jesus is speaking to His followers about persecution. Those who are His will live in this world as “sheep among wolves.” They will be hated, tortured, and possibly even killed. But they are not to be afraid, nor are they to stop speaking about Jesus.

Just as sparrows fall or die, so will the followers of Jesus. But that “fall” is not outside God’s knowledge, will, or care, as the NIV puts it. God is in control.

What light does the context around Matthew 10:29-31 shed on the meaning of these verses for you?

Sometimes drastic measures are required to confront people with the need for a serious, life-altering conversation with God. Lamentations 3:37, 38 remind us, “Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?” In Daniel 4:35, Nebuchadnezzar affirms, “He does what he pleases with the powers of heaven and the people of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?’” This declaration came after God subjected the king to a bout of insanity because of his pride and arrogance. The king needed that experience to recognize his Sovereign. Does it astonish you to attribute insanity to a work of God?

The outcomes of the political process are attributed to God. It is God who sets up and brings down the rulers He chooses. Sometimes God gives reasons for His actions, and sometimes He does not. We will look at this aspect of God’s sovereignty in more detail a little later. Daniel declares this in Daniel 4:17 after receiving a vision from God regarding Nebuchadnezzar. He writes, “…so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over all the kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone He wishes and sets over them the lowliest of people.”

How do these verses affect your understanding of the political process that brings to power people who you might not agree with, who seem not to have the public’s best interests at heart, or who are outrightly incompetent or evil? Are you reassured by these verses?

We simply don’t understand what God is up to. When we don’t understand, we question. Rather than the usual “Why?” perhaps a better, more trusting question is, “I wonder what God is up to?” In humility, with an attitude not only of submission but also of awe, we echo the words from Isaiah 55:8, 9, “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’” We might not understand, but we need to trust the One who does.

Paul expresses the same attitude in Romans 11:33-36, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counsellor? Who has ever given to God that God should repay them? For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen.”

How do you respond to what we learn about God in these verses?

There are times when drastic measures taken by God are not matters of punishment or justice but are necessary elements in the process of spiritual growth.

The story of Job is one of the best-known and most often referenced in Scripture. Most of the book is a discussion between Job and his “friends.” Job is suffering. His friends believe he has committed a sin that has brought this punishment down on his head. His wife thinks her husband should just walk away from God altogether. Job believes there has been a mistake and wants to discuss the situation with God personally. None of them know what is really going on.

God is silent through most of Job’s suffering. At the end of all the arguments, God speaks and silences both His servant and his buddies. He never responds directly to Job’s complaint. In what the Lord says, we find a litany of examples that describe God’s control and His sovereignty over everything—including even Job’s suffering. The reason behind that suffering, of which Job was unaware, is affirmed in the first two chapters of the book. Here, we are told of the encounter between Satan and God. This encounter is extremely important for us to understand.

Job is blameless, as righteous a man as a human being can be. Apparently, this righteousness is why God sets him before Satan as an example. What is about to happen to him is not punishment for any sin he has committed. Rather, it is evidence that a person of faith goes through challenging times just like everyone else but can remain unmoved in his position of trust despite what happens.

Satan appears before God. God asks him where he has been—not that He didn’t already know the answer. Not surprisingly, Satan has been roaming the earth, seeking someone to deceive into rebellion against God.

God volunteers Job for the test. Satan challenges God’s choice, arguing that Job will never rebel against God because the life God has blessed him with is too good to risk jeopardizing through rebellion. But Satan argues that if God were to withdraw that blessing, Job would surely give in to the temptation. So God says, “Very well, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”

Satan acts only within the limits God sets for him. Beyond that, he cannot go. Job does not cave, so Satan returns to the Lord. This time, Satan insists that if Job is physically touched, he will rebel against God. The Lord replies: “Very well, then, he is in your hands, but you must spare his life.”

Satan touches Job’s body again, within the limits God sets for him. Yet Job still does not rebel.

Who is in control here? Who is under control?

We stop to ask why God did what He did. Did God use Job simply to prove a point to Satan? God doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone. That truth leads us to another conclusion. Did God do this because Job and his friends needed to learn something? Was this experience necessary to move them all along in their spiritual journeys? Does Satan simply play a role in a far greater divine design?

Just before Jesus was betrayed, He met with His disciples in the upper room for one last meal. A discussion broke out among Jesus’ followers about who would be the greatest in Christ’s kingdom—they still hadn’t grasped what that kingdom was all about! There was also a discussion about who would betray the Lord. Peter protested, declaring that, though everyone else might leave Jesus, he never would. Jesus’ response, as recorded in Luke 22:31-32, was this, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Notice “Satan has asked…” and that permission was granted. Why would Jesus grant Satan permission to test Peter? Was this again one of those divinely orchestrated opportunities to move Peter along in his spiritual journey? What would Peter have learned from both his failure and his restoration that would make him a stronger believer and a better leader of men?

Dare I extrapolate from these two instances that every time someone is tempted, dating back to Adam and Eve, permission to subject that person or those persons to temptation had to be asked for from God and then granted by God? Dare I also say that the tests we face are all divinely designed to move us along in our spiritual journeys? Satan has a different agenda, of course, and James is clear about what it is. He writes, “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”

Satan seeks to destroy our spiritual lives. God seeks to enhance them.

The good news is that we do not have to give in to temptation. James is clear on this as well. “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.”

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

And that “way out?” 1 Corinthians 15:57, “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Job’s example ought to inspire us. Rather than running from God, as his wife wanted him to, Job ran to God. That assured him of victory.

This encapsulates the experience of all of us, back to Adam and Eve. God doesn’t tempt us to sin. Satan does. But God uses that temptation, for which He has granted permission, as a stepping stone in our spiritual growth.

We ask what God was up to when He granted Satan permission to tempt Job and Peter, and then set the limits on Satan’s actions. We wonder what His actions mean for us?

James explains. From one perspective, we are tempted; from another, we are tested. Faith is neither proved nor improved until it is tested. James writes: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

We tend to give Satan far more credit than he deserves. We push back against the idea that God controls even what our archenemy does. But for God to BE God, He must have control over everything.

How is it reassuring to know that God has ultimate control over everything, even Satan himself?

(From A Question of Trust, © Lynda Schultz, 2021, ISBN: 979-8-7420-5863-2)