Sovereignty

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, (Philippians 1:12 ESV)

Is God in control? No, I mean is God really in control? Of everything?

These are the questions we find ourselves asking sometimes, especially when things are not going the way we think they should. We often have things worked out in our minds--the way we think they should go--and when things don't happen according to our plan, or the way we think God ought to work, then we wonder. We question.

I want you to know without any doubt that God is in control of his universe. Nothing is random. Nothing is happenstance. Nothing is coincidence. God rules. Paul says so in Romans:

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:36 ESV)

And Ephesians:

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, (Ephesians 1:11 ESV) (emphasis mine)

To illustrate this there once was a great King who ruled a great empire. He took great pride in his empire, and his city, and his great accomplishments. He was filled with so much pride that he secretly believed himself to be the most powerful man ever. He ruled the world! You may have heard of this guy. His name was Nebuchadnezzar. His empire was Babylon. 

In Daniel 4:30 we read where Nebuchadnezzar says this: "Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” 

But God had a lesson for him. Nebuchadnezzar needed to learn who was really in charge, who had control of this world, who had built his Babylon. So he was driven mad for seven years and when he returned to his senses this is what he had to say:

At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?” (Daniel 4:34-35 ESV)

The lesson is clear. We may think we are in control, but we are not. It may seem sometimes as if God is not in control, but he is. Always. He does according to his will both in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. None can stop him from accomplishing his purposes. None is in a position to question him. Not you. Not me. Not Nebuchadnezzar. Not Caesar Nero. God is at work. Always.

That's a comforting thought! God is always at work in the world accomplishing his purposes. Paul's enemies may conspire against him. The governors of this world may do their worst. Paul may even be bound in prison for years. But make no mistake. It is all coming to pass in fulfillment of God's purposes. The gospel is not being thwarted. The gospel is being advanced. Isn't that amazing? We may think that Satan or this world are getting the upper hand, but they are never getting the upper hand. Never. God is always in control.

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, (Philippians 1:12 ESV)

Now, doesn't that make you smile?