THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD

Daniel 4:34-35; Colossians 1:16

The sovereignty of God is what separates the God of the Bible from all other religious teachings or philosophies. When we say that God is Sovereign, we declare that by virtue of His creation of all life and reality, His omniscient, all-powerful, and benevolent rule, He is the Lord of all Lords, king of kings, and has absolute control of time and eternity. Nothing will come into your life that He has not permitted or decreed for your highest good.

The concept of God's control over everything is called the “sovereignty” of God. Nothing gives us more strength and confidence than an understanding of God's sovereignty in our lives. God's sovereignty is defined as his total and independent control over every creature, event, and circumstance at every moment in history. Subject to no one, without the influence of anyone, absolutely independent, God does as he pleases. God is in absolute control of the universe at every moment, and everything that happens is caused or permitted by Him for His own perfect purposes.

He is continually, actively directing things, all things. But thinking that He needs our cooperation, our help, or the exercise of our free will to carry out His plans puts us in control over Him, which makes us God. Where have we heard that lie before? It is a repetition of Satan's same lie from the Garden: “You will be like God” (Genesis 3:5). Our wills are only free to the extent that God allows us that freedom and no further. "All the people of the earth are considered as nothing. He does what he wants with the powers of heaven and the people of the earth. There is no one who can stay his hand, nor say to him: “What have you done?” (Daniel 4:35) No one's free will prevails over God's sovereignty.

Some people think that Satan has control over a certain amount of life and that God is constantly revising his plans to accommodate Satan's tricks. The Book of Job is a clear illustration of who has sovereign power and who does not. Satan came to God and, in effect, said, “Job only serves you because you protect him.” So God gave Satan permission to do certain things with Job, but no more (Job 1:6-22). Could Satan do more than that? No. God has control over Satan and his demons who try to thwart God's plans at every turn.

The Bible is a book that reminds us of God's presence in our lives and how He has a hand in everything that happens to us. From book to book, God keeps reminding us that He is always with us in every moment of our lives and that no part of our lives is hidden or new to Him. This poses a big problem in understanding why evil exists in the world. When you look around you see homeless children and hundreds of people dying from diseases, wars, etc. With all the stress and hassle that life has become, all the ups and downs that the Christian faces, the personal struggles and so many trials, it is almost impossible not to ask: Is God still in control?

The Bible assures us of his presence in our lives, his power, and how he always rescues his people, but when we look around us, this can seem like a lie and a kind of illusion that is never made clear, so is God still in control? To understand this we have to start with what the Bible says about suffering in John 16:33: “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace in this world you will have affliction but trust in it.” "I have overcome the world."

1 Peter 4:12-13 says, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you to test you, as if something strange were happening to you, but rejoice because you share in the sufferings of Christ so that perhaps you will rejoice when his glory is revealed.” The Bible has made it clear that suffering is part of human life; it is evident that the world is full of physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering. Pain has been and will be an intrinsic part of The Human Experience, there is no way to escape from it. There is no escape. There is no problem-free life, even the most spiritual or wealthiest people in the world will at some point experience a near-breaking point, even Jesus himself suffered.

With that promise of suffering and pain, the Word of God does not leave us hopeless. Jesus tells us to have hope since He has overcome the world. The apostle Peter says that at the end of our suffering, there will be an even greater glory. Romans 5:3-4 says, “Not only this, but we also glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces patience, perseverance of character, and character of hope.” The problem is that today's believer has reduced God along with his sovereignty and power to a self-help genius who is supposed to give him everything that makes him happy. People have dethroned God from his rightful place of authority and turned him into the idle dispenser of prosperity, comfort, and wealth. They care more about the things they receive than about who gives them. People often confuse blessings with the one who blesses and takes the evidence of a perfect life as His presence and power in their lives and dismiss God as absent when things get difficult.

That is why when suffering and bad times enter our lives and our world we begin to question the power of God and doubt his existence and authority on earth. We begin to buy into the devil's lies that God has no control over anything that happens to us and that perhaps He is just as helpless as we are when we are in such difficult times. When the decisions we make in life greatly alter the course of our lives, and perhaps tragically when the what-ifs are endless and the endings are more often sad than happy, we wonder if God is still in control.

The fact is that God is always in control of the things that happen to us that test our faith and his power is based on our perspective of him as God. God already knew that the world would be a troubled place and he made sure we knew it too, so he gave us a way to survive in a world that is full of hurting and evil men, a world that continues to test our faith and has rejected God. The path is not magically hidden by a secret code but is open to all. Believing the truth from the Bible that God is in control, that is all God wants us to believe, even when our circumstances may say otherwise.

God is still in control even when things seem to be out of our control and we can't stop them, and everything you do leads to a worse situation. There is not a single second in which God will have left the place of authority that he occupies in your life, there is not a day in which God will let something happen to you that does not lead to your good, in the end, there is no day. That God will not bring you closer to his good and perfect will for your life, even if it means putting you in a difficult situation. God is always in control in good times and bad. As a believer, we should know that life is not meant to be all happiness and roses for you. Coming to Jesus was not intended to end life's challenges or close the door of trials and difficulties; if anything, it only invited more difficult moments for the elevation of your faith. If you are in Christ, you will be tested more than anyone else, just as gold has to go through fire, God has to test us and refine us until we become the shining golden instrument ready for His use.

Hard times should not make you lose hope or despair in life when you are in Christ, he does not take away the storms of life but rather gives you peace and comfort within the storm, the kind of peace that the Bible considers, and it surpasses all human understanding. Although that difficult moment may be too painful to bear and for a minute you are tempted to believe that God has lost his place of power in your life. I assure you that God is still in control; He did not simply create all things and set them in motion without controlling them. God's sovereignty is an essential aspect of who He is. He has supreme authority and absolute power over all things. He is very active and in control despite the perplexity of his circumstances.

I often think about what it was like for work to be a very rich man with an amazing big family, but one day he wakes up and before nightfall, he has lost everything, his animals, houses, servants, and children, all in one day, In fact, within hours when Job received the news of the misfortunes that had befallen him the Bible says in Job 1:20-22 before this Job stood up and tore his cloak and shaped his head then he fell to the ground in worship and said: “naked I came out of my mother's womb and naked I will depart, the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, praise the name of the Lord.” Job did not sin by accusing God of wrongdoing.

It would have been so easy for Job to get angry at God and ask him where he was when everything that happened to him happened Job 2:10-12 says but he said to him “You spoke like a woman who lacks moral judgment if we accept the good that comes from God we do not We should also accept the bad in all this work, we do not sin.” In what he said we must understand that God being in control is not another phrase for good things, he is not only in control when our lives are going well, when we are healthy, happy, at peace, surrounded by our loved ones and we have money to You can sponsor vacations or anything like that.

His control is not evidenced by the material success in our lives or by the fact that we make the right decisions all the time. God is always in control, he has the entire earth in the palm of his hands, he is the Lord of times and seasons, and he rules the seas and the land. He controls how long you close your eyes to sleep and open them when you wake up, he is always actively involved in your life, the things you do, the decisions you make, the people you meet, the jobs you do, and then, simply, everything you do. He keeps everything under his power and control and always works together for the good of those who love him and those who have been called according to his purpose; Romans 8:28.

No amount of pain or suffering should make you doubt God's authority in your life. I just want to encourage you and assure you that God is still in control and you have nothing to fear. It may seem like the whole world is collapsing beneath your feet, but believe me; God is in control of what you may be going through. The darkest phase of your life and no one seems to be getting close, but God says he is in control, relax and trust in his power and sovereignty over all things, he has promised that no temptation will come to you that you cannot overcome. Be encouraged and stay firm in your faith. Look to God because only from him can you receive help, trust in him in times of trial and you will persevere in everything to be victorious in him. Let God be your strength and hope in anything that comes your way, never forget that he is always in control.