While God is sovereign, He doesn't control everything.

I believe that God is intimately involved with everything that happens. There is not one thing that takes Him by surprise. I also believe that God is always good, and there is no evil in Him. Therefore He cannot do evil things. He does allow us, and Satan, to do evil things, and many people ask why. I don’t have the full answer to that, but I understand that he has given us free will to do good or bad and we live in a fallen world where Satan has a right to kill, steal, and destroy those who will let him. Sometimes I see an evil thing, such as a tragedy or suffering, as God’s mercy, as it often draws people to Him and results in their salvation or an increase in their faith and trust. I know that God is close to those who are suffering; He feels their pain and has compassion on them. God takes no pleasure in evil but He will use it for good if we let Him.

I believe that God could control everything, but He has chosen not to—especially our choice to love and follow Him. God knows what decisions we will make ahead of time, but He doesn’t cause us to make them. Unfortunately we make bad choices sometimes, which can lead to natural consequences of our actions. Sometimes destruction comes to those God has judged to be deserving of it, but only after He has extended mercy as long as He can, after all He is just. Also, as God’s beloved children, we are targets of His enemy Satan.

No matter how dark things become, I believe that God’s objectives for the world and humankind will be achieved. But not everything that happens is according to God’s will. As 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” Since God doesn’t want anyone to perish, yet people do, we know that His will is not always accomplished. This also shows that God does not predestine anyone to hell, as some believe. How could a God of love with no evil in Him do that anyway?

Besides, if God’s will is always done and He controls the outcome of every situation, why does He tell us to pray? Wouldn’t that just be a waste of time? If God controls everything, we can’t even be held responsible for our decisions because He makes us make them. I think that would render us puppets rather than children.

We do not have to fully understand God’s ways if we trust Him. How do we trust Him? Not by trying to figure Him out, but by spending time with Him in prayer and Bible study and letting Him reveal His true character to us through those methods as well as during our journey with Him.

I hope my rambling makes you hungry to go deeper into the person of God.

Blessings,

Denise