You’re always closer than we know
Always more involved and in control
We will trust our lives to You
The One who was, and is, and is to come
“God of our Yesterdays” by Chris McClarney
Always more involved and in control
We will trust our lives to You
The One who was, and is, and is to come
“God of our Yesterdays” by Chris McClarney
Do you realize that God is involved and in control of every detail of your life–even the negative experiences? For quite some time, I have known that God is sovereign over all things, trials included. Just recently, however, I’ve realized that I didn’t quite believe that I could trust Him fully–because He does not prevent bad things from happening to me. It’s as if I was believing that He was not really in control of the bad things (that He is not truly sovereign). It seemed like He knew about and saw everything happening but was just allowing them–and then offering to help me in my weak struggle. I was making God very small. This doubt in my heart caused anxiety. How can I trust in His power if it means I will still face the difficulty of trials? Where can I turn to calm my fears, if not to God?
I just finished reading the book, Overcoming Fear, Worry, and Anxiety, by Elyse Fitzpatrick. As well as being helpful in many practical ways, Elyse’s writing is steeped with her wholehearted confidence in God’s sovereign control of all things. She says, “If you are afraid that God will allow you to experience trials, recognize that He will allow only that which will change you for your own good, freedom, and joy, as well as for His own glory.” Wow! Is it really true that God allows only the trials and challenges that will be best for me and for His glory? That means that He is actually controlling–not just allowing–my every circumstance. That means He has a specific and good purpose. That means I can trust Him.
To verify what Elyse had said in her book, I began to look up Scripture verses. If the Bible promises God’s complete control and sovereign purpose, then I can rest in this truth. If I know God is in control of my trials and that His purpose is for my good and His glory, then I can turn to Him and trust Him. God’s sovereignty can become the comfort for my fears.
- Romans 8:28 gives us the promise that “in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”
- Ephesians 1:11-12 says that He is the God “who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of His glory.”
- James 1:2-4 tells us to “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
- 1 Peter 1:6-7 also tells us to rejoice in trials because of their purpose for our faith. “In this [our salvation and heavenly inheritance] you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.“