The Real Life Sovereignty of God

The sovereignty of God seems to be what holds the majority of my attention when it comes to biblical study. If i am reading a book on theology, philosophy or even fiction, i consistently find myself instinctively evaluating if the writer at hand is doing justice to the sovereignty of God over all things. As i read through the books of the Bible, i am always asking myself what each author has to teach me about the sovereignty of God. If i find myself on Amazon and realize that i haven’t read a good book on God’s sovereignty in awhile, i tend to go hunting for one. Even if i don’t end up buying it at the time, it will almost certainly end up in the “Save for later” section of my cart.

So yesterday evening when my friend Mark asked me what i had been study recently in terms of personal Bible study, i had no problem filling him in on all i was learning from Piper’s “The Justification of God”, which is a very careful exegesis of Romans 9. We spent several minutes talking about Scripture’s robust view of God’s sovereignty over all things, and how especially in our society we can never seem to get a big enough view of it.

i thoroughly enjoyed our discussion, and just as i thought we were about to close that subject and move onto another, Mark made sure our discussion would matter for more than just those few minutes. “So how do you make application of this study in your everyday life?” He asked. A most remarkable question, because those of us who love the study of the Word are often in danger of gaining knowledge that doesn’t affect anything in our everyday life. People cannot too often remind us to make application of the Scriptures.

So how, then, do we apply God’s sovereignty to our lives? Let me start with the overarching conclusion that the more we live out the truth of God’s sovereignty, the more we will find it needs to change everything in our lives. In particularly, we tend to carry an outlook of selfish anxiety every day that is completely evil. If God is sovereign over all things, then every time we worry about something, we are showing two things: 1) A distrust for God, and 2) A desire to do God’s job for Him. To be sure, worry and concern are two very different things. To be completely without care is very much a sin in the opposite direction. But without exhausting definitions, let me for the sake of argument define worry as “a concern that has grown to the point of causing mental or emotional hindrance to good judgment and the trust of God”. (Critiques for that definition are welcome)

So when we get frustrated because an unexpected traffic jam is going to make us late for work, we are instantly failing to trust God with our time. When we get upset because we were picked to work a weekend, and we believe anyone else would have been a better choice, then we are already better rulers of our world than God in our own eyes. If we find ourselves in a disagreement with someone, and frustration grows to selfish anger, and we start to believe it is our job to change someone’s heart or mind, then we have officially made our claim to God that He is failing miserably at His job.

God assures us time and again that He stands over all things as sovereign Ruler. The most godly example of suffering found in the Old Testament finds its foundation in Job’s conclusion, “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 1:21) In Isaiah we find an overarching claim of God,

“This is the purpose that is purposed
concerning the whole earth,
and this is the hand that is stretched out
over all the nations.
For the LORD of hosts has purposed,
and who will annul it?” (Isaiah 14:26-27)

Even the decisions of man are under His sovereignty. How else can God make the claim, when Rehoboam did not listen to the wise elders of the nation, that “The king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by the LORD that he might fulfill his word, which the LORD spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.” (I Kings 12:15) And Ezra, after Judah’s return from exile, doesn’t bother to praise the King of Assyria for helping with the Temple, but instead says that “the LORD had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.” (Ezra 6:22)

And how else can Joseph make the claim, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Gen 50:19-20) This word “meant” in Hebrew in unambiguous. It specifically says that God intended for his brothers to do what they did. Everything that happened to Joseph was not God’s brilliant response to his brother’s evil, but God’s plan from the beginning.

This is why Paul can command without hesitation, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:6-7) To worry is to take a responsibility on ourselves that we are neither permitted nor equipped to carry out.

The sovereignty of God stands over all things, and we will never know it well enough. We must be careful to spend time studying the Word and praying that God will help us trust Him in all things. We must take measures to keep fresh in our minds God’s control over all things, from memorizing Scripture to placing post-it notes on the bathroom mirror. We must be careful not to attempt to take on those responsibilities which God reserves for Himself. And only in that trust can the peace of God guard our hearts in Christ Jesus.

Peace be with you,

Caleb

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