Either God is in control…or He is not. He cannot be kind of in control…but kind of not.

I meet a lot of people that struggle with how to reconcile the balance between God being sovereign, or God being swayed. They are confused on how much God is in control or how much man is in control of God. The challenge is…it can’t be both. Either God is in control, or He is simply not. Either God is unmovable or He is movable. Either God has His way, or His power is usurped by man. If man can change the plans of God, then God is simply not in control.

This is very hard for people to reconcile because it brings up soooo many questions that challenge our theology and view of God. Unfortunately, I don’t have time or perhaps the all-knowing wisdom on how to answer every question this brings up, but I can settle very quickly in my heart that NOTHING can shake an unshakable God. If I bow to the idea that God can somehow be blind-sided or thwarted, then I have to accept the possibility that somehow God is not all-powerful as the Bible claims He is. And, for me, I simply can’t come to the conclusion that my will is more powerful than the creator of the universe. I can’t easily accept the idea that somehow I am more in control than He is.

I will admit, there are some (very few) scriptures that throw me for a loop at times and make me somehow not completely understand how God is sovereign, yet allows us to have a part to play as well. There is a great deal that I, and others, just don’t know when it comes to how God chooses to wield His sovereignty. But at the end of the day, I lay my head down at night knowing that I can trust the sovereignty of God. I find much more comfort that He is in control, than I do that somehow I might be. There are far too many more scriptures that point to God being a SOVEREIGN KING than He is a begging underdog, just hoping that we choose Him. In fact, the Bible clearly tells us that God chose us before we even could choose Him. And that it is only by His Spirit that we even come to the saving knowledge of His Son Jesus. I simply can’t take credit for choosing Him if He already chose me before the foundation of the world.

So why am I writing this? One, because I want you to seek God and wrestle with your view of how sovereign God truly is. Dig into questions and truth on the power of God. Two, because I hope that you find comfort in knowing you serve a God who is in control. When you begin to accept sovereignty and see God for an all-powerful God that He is, it can change the way you live out your Christianity for the good. My intention is not to obviously give an exhaustive theological dissertation of sovereignty or free-will, but just to stir your curiosity so that you come to know the all-powerful God that we serve in a greater capacity.

Job 42:2 (NIV)

“I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”

Psalm 135:6 (NIV)

The Lord does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths.

Romans 8:28-30 (NIV)

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.