Imagine you wake up early in the morning and tuning into the radio you hear of an incident that took place in the night. You hear the reporter saying that they have never seen something like it before. All the bars and nightclubs have burned up and no one was hurt. Knowing what happens at bars and nightclubs, if you’re a Christian you would probably rejoice; you’d praise our sovereign God. ‘Thank God something happened to those places. Now our young people won’t be wandering around in them.’ We will say that God did something in the night. We’d praise him in the morning.
Now imagine a different scenario. Another morning. You wake up to the news that your government wants to stop the gatherings of believers. I am sure that we’d come together and pray against such a thing. We might even be tempted to say that the devil is at work.
Should we attribute bad things to God? Or can we just blame it on the devil?
So, who’s in control when major events happen? Do we attribute the good to God and the bad to the devil? Well, the devil is undoubtedly at work. And we know that he opposes God, both his plans and his people. While Jesus gives new life, in abundance, the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10-11). Does this make our world a kind of cosmic wrestling match? Should we attribute bad things to God? Or can we just blame it on the devil? In this article I’m going to argue that God uses everything for his purposes, whether good or bad. Nothing falls outside of his power or plans. He is sovereign over everything he made.
Who Stands Above Suffering and Evil?
When we only attribute good things to God’s action, we limit him. For it implies that God is powerless to prevent bad things. In fact, by doing this we give power over to the enemy. We share God’s sovereignty with the evil one.
Now, consider the biblical witness. Scripture contains countless stories of people experiencing hardship, even immense suffering (Job 1:14-19). Were these things to happen to us we’d be tempted to say God doesn’t love us; or that he doesn’t care about his people. We rightly associate God with power and protection, preventing harm. However, the men and women who endure tremendous suffering in the Bible often recognise God’s control. They entrust themselves to his sovereignty. They cling onto God’s love when they don’t necessarily understand his purposes.
It’s easier to blame someone when we don’t understand. And I’d rather point my finger at the devil.
As Job cried out, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked shall I return. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:20-21). Joseph understood, “you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20a). Neither deny God’s sovereignty. Nor do they question his goodness. Instead they understand that God is in control.
It’s easier to blame someone when we don’t understand. And I’d rather point my finger at the devil than God. After all, God is good; the devil is bad. But when I do that I forget that God can use the bad for his good. For his glory. For our growth. As he suffered, Job asked: “He is unchangeable and who can turn him back? What he desires, that he does” (Job 23:13). If there was a limit to what God can do, then he wouldn’t be able to do what he desires. You and I are limited. God is not. He does whatever is pleasing to him.
Sovereign in Power, Good in Purpose
There is great comfort in knowing that God is sovereign, because God is good. We don’t always know why bad things happen. But we know that God will work it out for the good (Romans 8:28). Even in hardship. In the words of John Reisinger, “Sometimes God allows his people to suffer just to demonstrate the power of his grace.” His grace is sufficient. Even when we suffer. God gives grace. That is a demonstration of his goodness.
When hardship comes we’ll either label God impotent or question his goodness.
Let’s return and consider Joseph. His brothers sold him into slavery. He went to jail for a crime he didn’t commit. But sitting in prison we hear that God was with him (Genesis 39:22). What’s more encouraging to hear: this is the devil’s doing; or it’s God’s? To quote Reisinger again, “Blaming all of our difficulties on the devil is a backhanded way of strengthening our own self-righteous conceit…until you see the hand of God in all things, you will fight both God and the very purpose for which he sends the problem.”
So we need to hold onto the truth that God is sovereign, that even through hardships he is working what is good. If we don’t, when hardship comes we will either label God impotent (by blaming the evil) or we’ll question his goodness.
Three Ways God’s Sovereignty Empowers Us
1. Boldness
When your father is the president of the company that employs you, you know you’re secure. You’ve got job safety. When you know that you are on the winning team, you aren’t moved by circumstances. You’re confident that the team will win in the end. God is in control of everything. His counsel will prevail. No one can prevent or hinder his will (Isaiah 46:11b). He cannot be stopped. This is good news.
This comfort gives boldness. The devil isn’t God. He is limited. He’s a creature in God’s cosmos. But nothing will stop the purposes of God, for he is sovereign over the cosmos. Over everything. When we pray, we pray with boldness, entrusting ourselves to God’s will. And his will will prevail.
2. Against Anxiety
Understanding God’s sovereignty also goes some way in guarding against anxiety.
Why do we feel anxious? We feel anxious because we want to be in control. We’re afraid that if we aren’t then things will fall apart. But what is Jesus doing in Matthew 6:25-31? He is saying something about the heavenly Father. If the Father can look after the birds, what about his children? The focus is on God the Father. He will care for his children. He’ll provide for them. We can bring our anxieties to him.
3. Confident Trust
Finally, bringing much of the above together, knowing that God is sovereign enables us to trust him. When difficult things happen to us, God is still good and he is still in control. God isn’t corrupted by his power, like us. As R. C. Sproul put it, “As a holy God, he is utterly incapable of an unholy act. Only unholy beings commit unjust and unrighteous acts.” There is no unholy act in God. Because of that, we can trust that what he is doing is good. Even when we struggle to make sense of it. Bad things that happen, but God uses them for his good. And at times, that is all we need to know.
