God Is Not in Control Like You Think
I don’t know about you, but my problems are not solved in a day. I mull and muse adding thought to thought day by day. I have wrestled and wrestled with the phrase “God is in control.” It is usually given as an instant answer with no situational awareness from the giver about the receiver’s situation. Do we really know what it means to say God is in control? And do we really want to know the answer completely?
If God is in control in the sense that he controls every move of the universe, that is not true. A person who murders is not controlled by God to kill someone. But if God is over the principles of the universe, we might have something to discuss.
God created the universe. He is the one “with whom we have to do.” (Hebrews 4:13, KJV) At the same time, humans have free choice, and apparently so do angels. Satan is an angel who rebelled against God. He also apparently has the ability to talk with God about God’s children. (see the book of Job) This one situation raises questions. How can God give permission to Satan to torture Job? What on earth is going on here? Will this happen to me? How can God be so cruel? He is conspiring with Satan! Well, no he is not. Satan is asking for permission. And rest assured, this situation does not happen to everyone.
It might seem like a big mess. We might just throw our hands up in the air and give up before thinking through this to find an answer. It would be easy to do. However, a few thoughts and scriptures will clarify. God is in control up to the point he gives humans free will. Scary? Yes. But we could not love God without that choice. God threw Satan down to the earth (Luke 10:18) where Satan has dominion. Death reigns here. Can you now see why he is called our enemy?
When my first baby died at six weeks, the Christianese I had been taught came through my head. “God is in control.” What?!?!?! How could he just let my baby die? That was not supposed to happen. God does not just kill babies. I am not in Egypt experiencing the first Passover. Sin and death reign on earth as a principle. This is a hard truth to swallow in our utopian minded society.
When the pastor at church heard what happened, he reached out to me because he and his wife had the same experience. He told me, “Jesus didn’t want your baby to die!” He cut straight through the logical explanation in my head straight to the heart. I am not questioning that God can stop things because of the above discussion, but what God can do is pick up the pieces. Now this might make him appear weak and reactive. When he is following His own system though, he is not weak. He is doing what he can with what He has set in place.
I am not saying this is fair — among the millions of disclaimers I could put here. But I am saying that there is more to the phrase “God is in control” than what meets the eye. Let us continue to mull and muse sharing progressions of thought as truth comes to light.
