In the earlier posts in this series, we’ve been working through what it really means when we say that God is in control. We’ve seen that it isn’t 50/50, that God is not sharing control with us. We’ve seen that following Him was never about outcomes unfolding the way we expected. We’ve seen that He is not measured by our sense of fairness. And yet, even with all of that, there are still moments where something unsettles us.
Not because we believe He isn’t sovereign, but when things feel out of control. There are moments where nothing seems to line up. Nothing feels stable. We can’t trace what is happening, can’t follow where things are going, can’t make sense of how any of it fits together. And in those moments, something begins to rise in us, not always spoken, but present. This should make sense. I should be able to follow this. There should be an explanation. And when there isn’t, it doesn’t just feel confusing. It feels like something is missing.
But Scripture does not describe a world where God’s control comes and goes. It describes a God whose rule never shifts. “The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.” (Psalm 103:19 ESV). “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.” (Psalm 115:3 ESV). Not partially, not when we can see it, not when it makes sense, over all, and according to His will. So when things feel out of control, the issue is not that God has lost control. The issue is that we are not in a position to understand His control.
We don’t just want God to be in control.
We want to understand what He is doing.
We want to see how it is working. We want to be able to follow it. And when we can’t, something begins to shift, not always outwardly, but internally.
There was a man who knew this tension well. Job never questioned whether God had the power. He never denied that God was in control. Even early in his suffering, his words reflect that understanding: “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21 ESV). Job knew God was sovereign, but what he could not reconcile was what he was experiencing with what he knew to be true. He wanted to understand. He wanted to make sense of it. He wanted an answer.
At first, he brings this before God rightly. He appeals. He asks. He wrestles. And none of that is the problem. But slowly, something begins to change. His desire to understand becomes an expectation to understand, and that expectation becomes something more: “Oh, that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!)” (Job 31:35 ESV). In that moment, the issue is no longer just suffering. It is position. Job is no longer simply under God. He is beginning to call God to account.
And when God responds, He does not do what Job is asking. He does not explain what happened. He does not justify His actions. He does not walk Job through the reasoning behind it all.
God does not answer Job’s questions.
He answers Job’s position.
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.” (Job 38:4 ESV). “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.” (Job 40:2 ESV).
God reminds him of the distance between Creator and creation, not to dismiss him, but to reestablish what had begun to shift.
God does not answer to man.
And this is where we begin to see our own reflection. We feel like things are out of control because we cannot understand them. But Scripture never presents God’s sovereignty as something we are able to trace. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.” (Isaiah 55:8 ESV). “The secret things belong to the LORD our God…” (Deuteronomy 29:29 ESV). We are not given full access to what He is doing. We are not placed in a position to evaluate it. We are not equipped to trace His hand. And yet, we often live as though we should be.
This is where the correction comes. God is not sovereign because we understand Him. He is not sovereign because we can trace what He is doing.
He is sovereign because of who He is.
He has the authority to act. He has the power to act. And as Nebuchadnezzar finally recognized, “…he does according to his will… and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’” (Daniel 4:35 ESV). No one can say to Him, what have you done, not because we are afraid to ask, but because we are not in a position to demand an answer.
That is sovereignty.
And that places us in a position we do not naturally like, because we are not observers evaluating what He is doing. We are the created, living under what He is doing. So we do not stand over His actions, measuring them. We do not require explanation before we trust. We do not need to trace His hand to know that He is in control. We trust because we are His, because He is God, because we are not in a position to do anything else.
And we must be clear about something we often blur. God’s sovereignty is not defined by His character. He is not sovereign because He is loving. He is not sovereign because He is gracious. He is sovereign because He is God. If His character were different, His sovereignty would not change. Our position would not change. Our response would not change. We would still be under Him. We would still owe Him trust.
But Scripture does not leave us wondering what He is like. “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” (Psalm 103:8 ESV). This is not what makes Him sovereign, but it is who He is.
And this is where this begins to change how we live. Because when we understand His sovereignty rightly, it reshapes how we approach Him. We stop demanding answers, and we begin asking the right questions. We stop expecting explanations, and we begin approaching Him with reverence.
We begin to respond like those who recognized who He is.
“Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38 ESV). “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21 ESV).
This is not resignation. This is recognition, recognition of who He is, recognition of where we stand, recognition that even when we do not understand, we are still in the hands of a sovereign God.
As we sit with this today, we take a moment to reflect on where this tension has surfaced in our own lives. Where have things felt out of control because we could not make sense of them? Where have we begun to expect an explanation for what God is doing? And where might we be invited to respond differently, not by demanding answers, but by recognizing who He is?
If you are willing, share your reflections or questions in the comments so we can learn and walk this journey together.