Is God In Control?

Two things have been tugging at my heart recently. The first is the complete Sovereignty of God in all things and the second is my response to those people He places in my path and how I relate to them in relation to my Christian faith. These topics could take up hours of blogging and writing so I won't even think about trying to tackle them both in one little post. So, today I want to simply write about my thoughts pertaining to the Sovereignty of God. (In brief of course)

Sovereignty to me can be such a daunting word. One of those words that is rarely used in our conversations unless you are a Christian, and even then it seems like the understanding of Sovereignty in the Christian world has fallen away like the horse and buggy. A.W. Pink, in his book "Sovereignty of God," opens his first chapter like this:

- The Sovereignty of God is an expression that once was generally understood. It was a phrase commonly used in religious literature. It was a theme frequently expounded in the pulpit. It was a truth which brought comfort to many hearts, and gave virility and stability to Christian character. But, today, to make mention of God's Sovereignty is, in many quarters, to speak in an unknown tongue. Were we to announce from the average pulpit that the subject of our discourse would be the Sovereignty of God, it would sound very much as though we had borrowed a phrase from one of the dead languages. Alas! that it should be so. Alas! that the doctrine which is the key to history, the interpreter of Providence, the warp and woof of Scripture, and the foundation of Christian theology should be so sadly neglected and so little understood. - (A.W.Pink 1886 -1952)

So what has happened that even the church has moved away from the understanding of God's Sovereignty? Are we desiring control in our lives so much that we have neglected to put God in the place where He belongs?

When we speak of the Authority of Jesus we talk about His ability to be in control of, or reign over our lives. As fellow Christians we understand that to follow Jesus is to give up our sinful way of living and take on a new life in Christ. We are a new creation, the old is gone and the new has come. But what does it mean to give Christ authority over our life?

Mat 28:18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying,
"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth...

Jesus declares in this passage that He has "all authority." If we believe the Word of God to be true then we must consider what it means for Him to be over all things.

• Are we actually giving God permission to do anything?
  
• If God is already Sovereign over all things then what role do we play in His ability to govern over our life?
• Why should I even do anything if He is in control and already knows the outcome?

These questions and so many more I have considered in my walk with God. I will write more on my views pertaining to God's Sovereignty, but for now I am left pondering what it means for me when I acknowledge God is the one who is in control... He is over and through all things and it is by His power I am able to live.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the Sovereignty of God. Feel free to post a comment...

Blessings,
Keith