If there is one point where my view of God from His Word differs from mainstream cultural Christianity, it would be His sovereignty.  Historically, the sovereignty of God was not questioned as it is today.  My personal belief is that the push-back against God’s sovereignty stems largely from the sin of pride, and man’s desire to make God contingent upon himself.  Beyond that, I think it was wrought out of a good desire that all people be saved, and the thought process that if you confront people with God’s sovereignty up front it might be too much to take in and push people away.  I disagree because I believe deep down, people already know that God is sovereign in all things, it is merely another truth of God that has been supressed by our sin.  (Romans 1:21)

Within the doctrine of God’s sovereignty, apart from His sovereignty over salvation, there is no topic more controversial than God’s sovereignty over suffering.  Many would want to say that God is not in control of suffering; that it is a consequence of man’s fall, but He isn’t in control of bringing suffering to anyone.  Now, I myself did not always hold to the view of God’s sovereignty as I do today, so I want to be gentle with those who hold a different view, but also lovingly ask two questions:  1)  do you read your Bible and 2)  how do you read your Bible?  Obviously if you don’t read your Bible, then you can have whatever view of God that you want, but it’s just going to be a God of your own imagining, not really God.   Onto “how” you read your Bible.  When you read your Bible, do you start with a man-centered view of God or are you asking God to reveal Himself in Truth to you?  It makes all the difference in the world.  You see, most people have an idea of how they want God to be based on their own preconceptions of what is “good” as well as what seemingly benefits them most, and then they read that image of God into the Bible – that is the lens through which they interpret scripture.  In that way, let me tell you, you can read into the Bible whatever you want.  You can find scripture verses to support whatever position you want to take.  This should not be surprising knowing that even Satan used scripture to tempt Christ (albeit a misinterpretation based on a limited view of a specific verse)  Look back to how Jesus responded to Satan in Matthew 4, he did not refute the scripture Satan was quoting, but he did give other scripture that clarified God’s purpose in it.  That said, if you read your Bible from cover to cover with the understanding that ALL of scripture is the revelation of God (2 Timothy 3:16), then you cannot read the Old Testament and tell me that God was not sovereign over suffering.  He afflicted Pharoah with plagues, He destroyed the entire world with a flood, He destroyed Sodom and Gommorrah, He made war against the enemies of Israel, He sent snakes to afflict unbelieving Israel, He used Satan to put Job through suffering…. I could go on.  Read the book of Job, and tell me if God is not sovereign to bring suffering into place.  If you want to say that God merely “allowed” it; that is semantics.  If God is omniscient to know what Satan would do and then told Satan to afflict Job; God desired that suffering to come upon Job or He would have not given permission for Satan to afflict him.  Who gave Satan his power?  Who made the world and everything in it, that Job would have something to “lose”?  Oh that people would rejoice in Colossians 1:15-17 – “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”  All these people are trying to “get God off the hook” when He never makes excuses – simply let the Word of God stand!  God is God. He is good apart from your acknowledging Him as such.  His ways are not your ways; His thoughts are not your thoughts; His goodness transcends your understanding.

All that said, my burden today is not to give another scriptural argument for God’s sovereignty in all things, but rather to give an example of what it means to enjoy God at all times, even in suffering, knowing He is sovereign.  God has not seen fit to put me through great suffering, like being tortured for Christ, martyred, or enduring terminal cancer, etc.  That honor is reserved for those saints for whom God has purposed to manifest His worth in those moments.  That said, it’s not been an easy year.  I won’t bore you all with the details, but looking only to the health side of things, I have spent 4 of the past 9 months with my right arm completely casted/in a split up almost to my shoulder and I found out yesterday that I’m likely going to need arthroscopic surgery to repair my right knee (from a combination of tennis all my life and sitting at a desk for work everyday).  People come up to me and tell me how sorry they are for me, and at first I honestly forget why they respond that way.  I mean, I understand where they’re coming from, and it’s nice to be cared for, but it’s also a reminder that many people do not enjoy the understanding of God that I do.  These health issues didn’t “catch God off guard”, God planned these things to happen.  Here’s the deal, if you know that God loves you, because you have been awakened by His Spirit to see and savor your savior Jesus Christ, then everything is working towards your good and His glory.  Those things, your good and God’s glory, are not separate; but one.  His glory is your treasure in Heaven.  Suffering is a means God uses to press us into Him more, for our sanctification, to see more of His infinite worth.  His glory is what we will enjoy for all eternity.  Therefore, whenever suffering occurs in my life – while it may be inconvenient and painful, I know that God is good and will use everything in my life for good.  How can I be sad about that?

My life isn’t my own, it was bought with the blood of Christ.  (1 Peter 1:18-19) How am I now going to turn to Him who died for me, and ask Him, why are you doing things this way? (Romans 9:20)  He’s good!  My prayers are much more centered on thanking God for the opportunity to glorify Him amidst suffering, asking for opportunities to share the gospel among those I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise (doctors, etc.), and asking for His grace to sustain me through my suffering.  Now, here is the most important thing to understand about God’s sovereigntly over suffering.  If you remove God’s sovereignty in planning and bringing  you into suffering, you cannot then look to God to be sovereign in grace to bring you through that suffering.  You can’t have it both ways.  Either God is sovereign and guiding all things towards his glory, or He is not.  If He is not, then all my joy amidst suffering is foolishness.  If He is not, then all my prayers to use my suffering to spread the gospel is foolishness.  If He is not, then all the hope I derived from Romans 8:28 – “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”  is foolishness.

My exhortation is to allow God to be God.  Know – Believe that He is good and working all things towards our good and His glory, as He has promised.  He means for you to stand firm amidst suffering – even enduring it with joy, knowing that we have a greater possession in Heaven.  Look to the cross and be encouraged as the foundation of your faith, that He is good above all else.  He has demonstrated his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 8:31-32 – “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? “

Grace and Peace,

Adam