The document Faith in God’s Sovereignty – A Gateway to Peace delves into the profound concept of trusting in divine providence as a means to attain inner tranquility. By exploring the intricate relationship between faith and peace, it sheds light on the transformative power of unwavering belief in God’s supreme control over all aspects of existence. Through a meticulous analysis of spiritual principles, the text elucidates how embracing the sovereignty of God can serve as a guiding light in navigating life’s myriad challenges, ultimately leading to a state of profound serenity and harmony.I have found that faith in God’s sovereignty is a gateway to peace. Does the Bible teach that God is indeed sovereign over everything? If so, how does his rule affect our lives?

There is a popular theology that seems to be gaining traction recently that holds that God is not in control. As best I can tell, the reasoning goes something like this.

• To claim that God is in control means that he is responsible for evil and suffering and sometimes chooses for us to suffer.
• Evil and suffering are contrary to God’s nature; therefore,
• God cannot be responsible for evil and suffering; therefore,
• He is not in control.

I appreciate the apparent desire to protect God’s honor that motivates those that push this view, but I believe that it is partially incorrect, as is the case with most errors.

There is a sinful desire in mankind that motivates us to go beyond what God has revealed and figure out things for ourselves. The allurement of such “hidden” knowledge brought down Adam and Eve, and it has a very strong pull today.

God designed us to accept what he tells us without our always having complete understanding.

The LORD our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions. Deuteronomy 29:29 (NLT)

The essence of faith is our complete trust and allegiance in God, even when we do not understand things. Contrary to humanistic thinking, man is not the measure of all things. Since we cannot understand some things by God’s design, we depend upon what God has revealed to us in the Bible.

Our theology must be built solely on God’s Word, rather than our own understanding.

The problem of evil always trips our mental circuit breakers. In our attempt to grasp this immense issue, we may ask questions such as the following.

• Why did God allow the serpent to tempt Eve?
• If God knew beforehand what Adam and Eve would do and the tragedy it would bring to the entire earth and generations of humans, why did he give them the option of sinning?
• Why doesn’t God simply end all forms of suffering and death right now, if he is able?
• If he is not able, what does this say about God?
• If he is able, but chooses not to stop it, what does that say about God?

Perhaps you can think of other such questions. Before we know it, we may get so confused and/or offended, we may be tempted to give up on the Bible and God, which many have done. What are we to do? Should we apply our minds to figure things out or simply go back to the Bible to see what it says and be satisfied with that?

The first thing we can do is go back to the previously mentioned verse and remind ourselves that God has reserved secret things that are outside of our purview. In other words, we need to remind ourselves that God did not give us the insight or mental capacity to figure out everything. That is what Satan tempts us to do.

Instead, God asks us to relate to him via childlike faith.

Secondly, we can remind ourselves of what we do know from the Bible. God has attributes. Some are communicable, which he shares with us. Others are incommunicable, meaning they belong only to him and are beyond our experience and sometimes our comprehension. Here are a few things we know about God. I have given you links to articles in which I go into more depth and scriptural support than in this one.

• • God is loving and very good.
  • God is all-powerful and all-wise. (Psalm 62:11)
  • God is sovereign over all things. 

If God is sovereign, it means that ultimately he is in control. However, the Bible makes it clear that sin and evil do not come from God, even though he does allow it within certain parameters. 

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. James 1:13–15 (NASB95)

Evil came into this world through the agency of Satan and Adam’s betrayal of God. Did God allow this to happen? Yes. Why did he allow this? I do not know. His motivation is a “secret thing” he has not chosen to reveal to us; although, he appears to give us hints.

How can God allow evil and suffering within his set bounds, as was the case with Job, without his being responsible for it? This is another “secret thing” that belongs only to God. We can either accept it or be offended by it.

If we are going to be sound Bible theologians, we must come to terms with holding seemingly contradictory truths without needing to resolve them. For example, God is in control, and we are responsible beings. God elects or chooses who will belong to him, but we must do our part by responding to his grace. God did not create evil, but he allows it, at least for now. 

If we are determined to resolve the tension created by seemingly contradictory truths, we will have to decide which side of the equation we will eliminate. In the case of election, we may decide that it is entirely up to God, and we have no part to play. Or, we may decide that it is all in our hands. Both of those positions are errors which ignore part of God’s revealed truth. If we attempt to resolve the issue of God’s sovereignty versus the presence of evil and suffering by declaring that he is not in control, we have made the same error.

If God is not in control, who is? To say that no one is in control means that God cannot possibly know how things will turn out in the end because he is not in charge or able to make things happen as he wills.

However, God clearly demonstrates his control by foretelling the future and causing his plan to unfold flawlessly.

Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’; Isaiah 46:9–10 (NASB95)

Therefore, to claim that God is not in control is to deny the testimony of the Bible.

God is in control, but he is not responsible for suffering and evil. He is working an amazing redemptive plan to ultimately set us free from all that. We do not know why it is taking so long, which is another area in which we must trust his wisdom.

When suffering enters a person’s life, it is only natural for us to wonder why. Why me? Why now? Did I do something wrong? Is God still in control? Does he still love me? Did he abandon me? Can I really trust him? In the book of the Bible that bears his name, a man named Job asked these kinds of questions when God allowed his life to be wracked with physical pain and the emotional suffering of losing his family and fortune and even his good name. He and his friends believed that “bad” things did not happen to “good” people. If we keep the rules, we get blessed, right?

After chapters that recount his struggle to understand why God allowed him to suffer and his anger against what he believed was God’s injustice, eventually Job was granted what he asked for – an encounter with God. Face-to-face with his Creator, he became speechless. All his arguments and offenses dissipated in the presence of God’s glory. These were the first words he spoke.

I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; 6  therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:5-6 (ESV)  

God never answered Job’s questions or gave any sort of explanation for the suffering he had endured. Instead our Lord revealed to Job his absolute sovereignty and greatness, and that was enough to ignite his faith and give him peace.

Why is it that faith in God’s sovereign power and wisdom is a gateway to peace? I know a man who went through a terrible ordeal with his wife, who had an advanced stage of cancer. Eventually she was healed and delivered from the cancer, but in the middle of the crisis, his testimony is that God spoke to his heart, saying, “I know about this.” Knowing that God knew gave him peace and revitalized his faith to believe for a healing. To the logical mind, this may not make sense; but, faith’s rationale resides in the heart, not the mind.

We don’t need to have all the answers. We simply need to know that God knows about our situation and has things under control, even when it does not seem so.

Faith in God’s sovereignty means that we believe he ultimately controls everything and is working all things out for our good and his glory.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 (NASB95)

Rejoice always; 17 pray without ceasing; 18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (NASB95)

This is a strong foundation for experiencing God’s peace. This, by the way, presupposes that God loves us. We dare not interpret what he allows to come into our lives as a lack of love. 

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (NASB95)

When we choose to worship God in the midst of tribulation and suffering, we glorify the Lord by acknowledging his loving sovereignty over our lives in spite of the apparent contradiction.

We follow in the footsteps of those men of faith of old – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who stood before King Nebuchadnezzar. He threatened them with a fiery death unless they bowed down to the idol of his own glory and sovereignty, but they refused.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17  If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18  But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” Daniel 3:16-18 (NIV)  

Those who firmly believe in God’s loving sovereignty over their lives will make seeking God’s glory their top priority,  whether it results in deliverance or death.

When such faith is coupled with the understanding that God’s love for us is beyond comprehension, our peace is unshakeable.

Summary

1. If we determine to bring glory to God through our response to whatever life throws at us, then we don’t need to have any particular outcome, except that God be glorified. He can be glorified by delivering us from evil or by our going through suffering without wavering in faith. Either way, God and we “win.” (Philippians 1:20)
2. If have confidence that God is sovereignly overseeing our affairs and is ultimately in control, it allows us to yield ourselves completely to his will. Nothing can happen to us that he does not oversee or allow. The devil cannot slip something in on us behind the Lord’s back. (Daniel 4:34-35)
3. If we also know that he loves us beyond comprehension, we understand that we have nothing to fear. Perfect love casts out all fear. Paul wrote that no test or trial can separate us from God’s love. (Romans 8:37-39)
4. None of the above should be interpreted to mean that we should passively accept attacks from the devil or do nothing to remedy our situation. Consigning ourselves to God’s will includes doing everything reasonable, as led by the Holy Spirit, to stand on God’s promises, fight against evil, and trust God for our deliverance.

Now here is a bit of wisdom.

Desperately clinging to the answer we want God to give us works against our peace. However, when we surrender ourselves to our sovereign God who loves us past comprehension and works all things for good in our lives, our peace will be rock solid. As we stop demanding a certain answer from the Lord, our hearts can more easily hear what the Spirit is saying to us. When that happens, we can pray in line with God’s will in a specific way, all the while remaining at peace.

When we trust in God’s loving sovereignty and hold on to the Bible’s precious promises, while letting go of the fear that he will not work things out as we want, we will have peace beyond comprehension.

This brings to mind a couple of women with whom I did some counseling who had been sexually abused as children. As we would expect, they had difficulty trusting that God would be their protector how and in the future. Rather than argue against the seemingly solid logic of this experience-based reasoning, which the Bible calls a “stronghold” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5), I asked them to do what might have seemed unthinkable. I asked both of them to thank God, not for what happened to them, but for promising to work all that evil done to them for good. (Romans 8:28) Amazingly, both agreed. One of them lifted her hands and began to praise. Her face literally began to glow with God’s glory. I have never seen anything like it before or after. The other began to prophecy how God would use her to help other damaged women, which, by the way, happened in about a year’s time. They successfully bypassed their arguments against God’s loving sovereignty by acknowledging his ability to work out everything in a way that produced good in their lives and brought glory to him. 

Praising God’s ability to sovereignly work things, even horrific things, for good releases faith and power in an incredible way. 

Application

So, how do we get started on our journey to greater peace and joy? Here are some steps I encourage you to take.

1. Surrender to the Lord Jesus. This means we can let go of all “rights” to direct our own lives, figure things out, and make demands from God. Whoever heard of a slave making demands? We give God the reins and relax as he drives. We can only do this if we believe he is loving, kind, wise, and sovereign.
2. Worship God in all situations. We can thank God even for the most difficult, confusing, and challenging things in our lives. We thank him not because those things are good in themselves, but because we believe that he will work them for good in his loving sovereignty. (Romans 8:28)
3. Listen to the Spirit as we worship. The Holy Spirit will give us insight as we worship. When this happens, we can pray and act according to those specific instructions. It is a good idea to proclaim aloud what God tells you in your heart. Prophetic proclamation is a big part of the prayer of faith. It goes without saying that what the Spirit tells us will always agree with God’s written word in the Bible. We have to opportunity to put into practice what he tells us to do. For example, when I had cancer years ago, I went through the surrender process and began to worship God, no matter what the outcome might be. It was then that the Spirit spoke specifically to me that I would be completely delivered. Surrender plus worship can lead to incredible clarity and faith in God’s promises.
4. Hang on to God as we wait for the answer. Faith immediately receives God’s promises and hope is willing to wait as long as it takes for the fulfillment. 
5. Enjoy God’s Peace!

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5  Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7  And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7 (NASB)

Click here to learn about more keys to a happier life.

If you want to read more about how to survive and thrive in the midst of life’s difficulties, you can purchase my book on the subject: Seeing God’s Smile When Life Is Difficult. It’s available on Amazon.