Do you believe God is sovereignly controlling everything? I do. Do you still try to control everything? I do. Why is it that when we believe God is in complete control, we resist giving over our lives to Him? How do we reconcile the sovereignty of God and the free will of man? Let me share with you what I learned about how a sovereign God brings hope.
I do not believe most people have difficulty in believing how God is in charge when good things are happening. It seems right to believe that as Psalms 119:68a says, “You (God) are good and do good;” (ESV) and James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (ESV) So, my conclusion is that good things come from God, and that pretty much covers the easy part.
Then there are all the questions about bad things. Does God cause evil? Absolutely not! I believe James 1:13 makes it clear, when it says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one.”(ESV) God allows things to happen that are used to discipline me. Hebrews 12:5-11 supports this conclusion. The key verse in Hebrews 12 is verse 6, “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” (ESV) James 1:2-4 also says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (ESV)
There is a great book about evil. Why Does God Allow Evil By Clay Jones. I found it to be a fascinating read. It helped me understand how man’s free will fits into the picture. Read this interesting quote from the book: “The various forms of the words good and evil appear in the Bible almost 1100 times. Then when we add in the synonyms like sin, wicked, holy, right, wrong, righteous, unrighteous, love, hate, obey, and disobey, that brings the number to more than 5000 times. And this does not include other variations of words for evil like bad, iniquity, corrupt, immoral, depraved, or profane. Nor does this include words for particular evils like covet, adultery, idolatry, pride, lying, lust, and so on. Nor words of particular types of goodness like honor, truthfulness, faithfulness, and humility. Nor words describing the inclination to do evil like temptation or seduction. Nor words about one’s getting in good standing again with God after one has done evil, such as atonement, sacrifice (and the entire sacrificial system), repentance, and forgiveness. Nor words about the effects of evil, such as sorrow, sadness, sickness, pain, and death. Nor lengthy accounts of people sinning, like David and Bathsheba; of people suffering for their sin, like Judas; or of Jesus’ atonement for sin like the crucifixion accounts. Nor does it include words describing the final destinations of the evil and the good, such as judgment, hell, and heaven. Nor words describing the goodness of God.” ~Why Does God Allow Evil?: Compelling Answers for Life’s Toughest Questions by Clay Jones
Though this quote does not directly address the cause of evil the book does. The book goes in depth into the subject of man’s free will verses God’s sovereignty. His conclusion I would sum up as if man was given true freewill, he had to be able to choose to do things contrary to God’s desires for man. Thus, the sovereignty of God permits man’s freewill which often results in bad things to ensuing.
I pray you that you will embrace a sovereign God in your life and abandon your desires to control all things in your life. Your relationship with God through Jesus, changes you. It is that relationship that solves the problem of sin and brings us hope in the present and the future. I would also encourage you to seek Jesus for He is the only opportunity there is to have eternal life. This is to me the greatest source of hope. In doing so, I believe we will have hope and joy in our everyday lives. Understanding how Jesus Christ grants us access to eternal life, allows us to live in hope. “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” John 17:3 (ESV) At the same time understanding you will live eternally knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ will also bring you the greatest hope. Because of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross satisfied the penalty for sins. His payment satisfies all my sins from the past, the present and in the future. My penalty and yours was satisfied on the cross by the death of Jesus, God’s greatest act of love and wrath, who became sin for me and you. It was also God’s greatest act of faithfulness because “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (ESV) Because holiness shows us, we need to believe in Jesus. I hope that you join me in helping others to choose Jesus.
If you have not read my previous blogs, you can find them here.
You can watch book trailer about my book.
You can find my book, Hope Amid Hopelessness: Our Abba Father Provides a Way Through Mental Illness here.
eBook or Audiobook versions can be found at Westbow Press or Christianbook.com at Amazon or Google.
