Sometimes we have a negative view of people who can be a little too control­ling. We all know people who want to be in charge of every little detail, they want to work everything out be­forehand, they can’t let go of anything. We call them ‘control freaks’. And it’s not a complimentary term. That’s how some people view God’s control of the world. The thought of a Sovereign God who’s in complete control is repugnant to them. They won’t have it, they fight against it, and try to live as if they are in control. And if we are honest, we too sometimes bristle at God’s control of our lives. He directs us to places we sometimes don’t want to go. He takes things from us that we would rather hold on to. But the teaching that God is in control, complete control, is one of the most delightful truths of the Scriptures. It is what makes our God so praiseworthy. It is what makes the trials and tribula­tions of this life bearable. We have a God who is in control. And the Scriptures call us to have a very positive view of this.

Pervasive Control⤒🔗

What is the extent of his control? Well, as the children’s song puts it, ‘He’s got the whole world in his hands.’ Some people picture God as if he’s a cosmic chess player, reacting as best as He can to how we humans run the world. But for God to be ‘God’, he must be in complete control. There can be nothing outside his governing hands. Both Au­gustine and Calvin agreed that if there is anything that can happen outside God’s control, then ‘the whole world revolves at random’. God’s control must be all-pervasive.

This is what the Bible teaches. God controls all things. Isaiah 45:6-7 says ‘I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster, I the Lord, do all these things.’ God controls the big events in human history – he makes nations great or destroys them (Job 12:23), he determines the boundaries of the nations (Acts 17:26), he directs the hearts of those in power (Proverbs 21:1). But it is just as true that the Lord con­trols the small details of our individual lives – the hairs of our heads are num­bered (Matt 10:29-30), he measures the number of our days (Job 14:5), he de­termines the success or otherwise of our plans (James 4).

The thought of a human controlling the world is not particularly comfort­ing. We’ve seen what happens when mere men establish control over nations. They can wreak havoc and destruction because of their selfishness and pride and unfettered power. So, coupled with the teaching that God’s control is pervasive, must be the recognition of the kind of God He is. He is a faithful and loving God, full of compassion and goodness. The Heidelberg Catechism reminds us that all things come to us not by chance, but from God’s ‘Fatherly’ hands. He’s the God who controls our lives with his good and tender fatherly hands. That’s why His control is a source of comfort and strength for us. As Eric Liddel’s father stated in the movie “Chariots of Fire”, God may be a dictator, but ‘Aye, He is a benign, loving dictator.’

Perplexing Control←⤒🔗

This recognition that God controls all things is often coupled with our response that God’s control can appear at times to be very perplexing. Sometimes the way he orders this world is difficult for us to understand. Isn’t that true as you look at the terrible plight of Christians in Iraq and Syria. Isn’t that true as you consider the suffering of someone in your church, who just seems to have one setback after another. I know it is true of the suffer­ing I’ve experienced in my own life – the pain of miscarriage, the death of a cousin in childbirth, dealing with seasons of bodily pain and discomfort. I know God is in control, but sometimes I just can’t comprehend what he’s doing.

The prophet Habakkuk experienced the same difficulty. As he looked at the terrible violence that was occurring among the people of his day, he was perplexed at God’s seeming indiffer­ence to it all. He cried out to God. He wanted to know ‘how long’ the Lord was going to allow this situation to contin­ue. He wanted to know ‘why’ the Lord wasn’t doing something. The NIV enti­tles this section Habakkuk’s complaint. This gives the impression that Habakkuk was having a bit of a whinge at God. However, Habakkuk was not trying to pass a verdict on God’s mysterious ways. Rather, he was verbalizing his difficul­ties because God’s governance of the situation perplexed him greatly. In faith he was seeking understanding of God’s mysterious ways. It’s a pattern for us to follow.

Habakkuk provides a very instructive way of dealing with his perplexity. In the midst of his disorientation about the situ­ation, he recalls some of the attributes of God. He remembers that God is ‘from everlasting’, that he is the ‘Holy God’, that He is his ‘Rock’ (1:12-13). He is not doing this simply to remind himself of the doctrine of God. He’s struggling with what he doesn’t know – the ‘why’ question. So he begins to remind himself of the things he can be absolutely certain of. The ‘who’ question. He falls back on the character of God when he’s per­plexed about God’s control.

Pastor Saeed Abedini was imprisoned in Iran. He had been imprisoned already for three years, and he wrote a letter to his daughter on her birthday. He wrote:

My dearest Rebekka Grace, Happy 8^th Birthday! You are growing so fast and becoming more beautiful every day. I praise God for His faithfulness to me every day as I watch from a distance through the prison wall and see pictures and hear stories of how you are growing both spiritually and physically. Oh how I long to see you. I know that you ques­tion why you have prayed so many times for my return and yet I am not home yet. Now there is a big WHY in your mind, you are asking: WHY Jesus isn’t answering your prayers and the prayers of all of the people around the world praying for my release ... The answer to the WHY is WHO. WHO is in control? ... The confusion of ‘WHY has all of this happened’ and ‘WHY your prayers are not answered yet’ is resolved with un­derstanding WHO is in control ... God is in control, and He knows better than us what He is doing in our lives and all around the world.

What’s Pastor Abedini doing? He’s telling us in all our perplexity, let’s recall what we do know. We know WHO is in control. Our faithful God.

Purposeful Control←⤒🔗

Our faithful father also exercises a very purposeful control over our lives. We hear today that God has a wonderful plan for your life. People usually mean by this that God wants to make you happy and healthy and give you lots of good times. But God’s beautiful plan for our lives is a lot grander than our own personal happiness and prosperity. God’s control of all things and his pur­poses for his people are linked together in Romans 8. It’s not as if God controls all things to make our lives difficult and miserable. He has an overriding purpose through the good and the bad he brings into our lives. The purpose is that we would be conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ (Rom 8:29).

We see this purpose also clearly ar­ticulated in James Chapter One. There James talks about the place of trials in the Christian life. He concludes that God sends these trials so that ‘you may be mature and complete, not lacking any­thing’ (James 1:4). The idea is that God wants us to be the complete package as Christians. We talk in football terms about a player who is the complete package. They have the physical strength, the mental toughness, and the breadth of skills so that they can adapt to any circumstance in the game. Through our trials the Lord intends to make each of us the complete package as Christians. This doesn’t mean we’ll become people with profound doctrinal knowledge, or with many spiritual gifts. It means we will grow in Christlike character.

Our natural response when we face trials and hardship is to ask God a ques­tion. One of those questions is ‘why’. However, James would have us ask a different question: ‘In what way will this trial make me more mature in Christ?’ When I really can’t stand my job, when I don’t get into the University course I would have liked, when the guy or girl I’m interested in does not reciprocate my affection, when I can’t sleep at night, then I can ask: What character trait is God refining in me? Is there an idol in my heart that this trial is exposing? Is God teaching me to trust him more in a certain area of my life? What can I learn about the grace of God in this trial? That’s the wonderful purpose God has in exercising his control – to bring us into Christian maturity.

Praiseworthy Control←⤒🔗

The fact that God is in control is also a reason for praise. In Romans 11 Paul reflects on God’s sovereignty in election. His response is not to express disap­pointment with God’s control. His response is not to tie himself up in knots because he just can’t figure out how God’s control works. His response is not to cry out ‘It’s just not fair!’ His response is not disappointment, but delight. He explodes in praise of God saying: ‘Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements and how inscrutable his ways ... For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen’ (Rom 11:33, 36). The God who is in control, should be praised for it.

A young boy who had been converted under George Whitefield’s ministry was lying on his death bed. He had been struck down by an incurable disease and death was drawing near. His Father asked him: ‘Son, do you fear death?’ The child replied ‘No Father’. The father asked ‘Why?’ The son said; ‘Because I want to go to Mr Whitefields BIG God.’ We serve a BIG God. A God who’s in complete control. This doesn’t repulse us, but kindles in us heartfelt praise, and a desire that one day we might be with our BIG God.