God is sovereign.
Sovereign means a person who has supreme power and authority. God has no limit to His power and His rule over the worlds and all that is in them.
“God holds authority over us because He is our author.” God is the Creator so He is, therefore, the owner of all things.
If you draw a picture, who does the picture belong to? If you make a clay pot or vase, who owns it?
Consider these verses:
Job 42:2 “I know you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted”
Psalm 115:3 “Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him.”
Isaiah 46:10 “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.”
Daniel 4:35 “All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to Him, “What have you done?”
Proverbs 21:30 “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord”
Ecclesiastes 7:13 “Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked?”
Proverbs 16:9 “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps”
Lamentations 3:37 “Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it?”
What do you learn from all these verses?
There is absolutely NOTHING that happens that God has not allowed to have happen. There is nothing that can be done to you that is outside of God’s plan for you. This includes the sin of other people.
Think about the story of Joseph. Joseph was thrown into a pit by his 11 older brothers. They argued about killing him but ended up selling him as a slave. Joseph was taken far from his home and made a slave. His owner’s wife falsely accused Joseph of hurting her. Joseph was put in jail and left there for years, forgotten about. When Joseph gets out of jail, he becomes a high ranking official in Egypt. Then his brothers come to him needing help. Joseph is face to face with the brothers who sold him into slavery which led to jail time and a very difficult life for him.
Joseph says in Genesis 50:20 “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”
Even the sin of Joseph’s brothers was part of God’s plan. God meant it for good. Think about the immensity, power, just, right, loving, holy, wise God that is so sovereign, He has power and purpose over wrongs done to us and can use those wrongs for His glory and our good.
Remember, not everything feels good. God’s ultimate plan for His people is to be like Christ. In his wisdom and love, He uses hard circumstances to make us like Christ - and when we are more like Christ, we have more joy!
Ecclesiastes 7:14 “When times are good, be happy: but when times are bad, consider, God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future.”
Isaiah 45:7 “I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things.”
Lamentations 3:38 “Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?”
Can anyone mess up God’s plan for you?
Can another person do or say something that is outside of God’s control?
Can a teacher give an assignment that is not part of God’s plan for you?
Can a boss do anything to you that takes you outside of God's will for your life?
Can a parent’s “no” to something you want to do be against God’s plan for you?
God’s sovereignty would be scary if God were not also good, wise, merciful and kind. But, because God is holy, holy, holy, we can be excited that He controls everything! His goodness and power will only allow what will bring Him honor and praise, and only what is good for us.
Romans 8:28-29 says “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”
For believers in Christ, for those who called to be His children, God uses all things - every situation whether easy or hard - for the good of making like more like His Son.
Are you thankful for God’s sovereignty?
Why?
In what situation in your life do you need to trust in God’s complete sovereignty, knowing that a good, loving, wise God has allowed this situation to happen because He loves you and wants you to be more like Christ where true joy is found?
Getting to know God in relationship:
How will you talk to God differently and read His word differently because of this attribute?
Written by Wendy Wood, CHCC counselor