in summary, all beings, things, and actions fall under God’s rule
what the Bible says about God’s sovereignty
All Christians acknowledge that God holds ultimate power in the universe. But does he always exercise it, especially when humans suffer? The causes behind human suffering are listed as major categories below. Under each are Scriptures asserting God’s active (not merely reactive) control.
God exercises control over the forces of nature
Exodus 9:23, 26: When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the ground. So the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt.... The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were.
Psalms 147:12, 15–18: Extol the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion... He sends his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes. He hurls down his hail like pebbles. Who can withstand his icy blast? He sends his word and melts them; he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow.
Mark 4:36–41: Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.... He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
God rules over the animal world (including disease-causing microorganisms)
Exodus 8:21, 24, 30–31: “If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you...” And the Lord did this. Dense swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh’s palace and into the houses of his officials, and throughout Egypt the land was ruined by the flies.... Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord, and the Lord did what Moses asked: The flies left Pharaoh and his officials and his people; not a fly remained.
Numbers 22:28: Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?”
1 Kings 17:2–4: Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there.”
Matthew 17:27:[Jesus speaking to Peter] “But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”
God exercises control over tools and technology
Exodus 14:24–25: During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. He made the wheels of their chariots come off so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”
Proverbs 16:33: The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.
Daniel 3:27–28:[Setting: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are thrown into a blazing furnace by King Nebuchadnezzar for refusing to bow down to a golden image. The soldiers who throw them in are burned, but the three are unharmed. Amazed, the king calls for them to come out.] The satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them. Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants!”
God rules over the thoughts and actions of humans
The Bible clearly teaches that God governs even human beings, who have intelligence and wills of their own.
Proverbs 16:9: In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.
Proverbs 19:21: Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
Proverbs 21:1: The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.
Most Christians willingly acknowledge God as the ultimate source of all people’s good deeds.
Ezra 1:1: In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing: [The Jewish exiles may return to Israel.]
Acts 16:14: One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.
Romans 7:18: I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. [The point: Human nature, left to itself, never chooses the truly good; it chooses good only when aided by God.]
2 Corinthians 8:16: I thank God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you.
But the Bible is equally clear that even people’s wicked, deluded actions are under God’s rule. He is not the source of their wicked deeds, for James 1:13 says that God tempts no one. Rather, he sees to it that people give expression to their own sinful desires in such a way as to fulfill his plans unwittingly, not their own. He accomplishes this by infinite wisdom beyond our grasp.
Genesis 45:7–8:[Joseph, to his brothers who sold him into slavery.] “But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, Lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.”
Deuteronomy 2:30: But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through. For the Lord your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to give him into your hands...
Psalm 105:25: Whose [Egyptians] hearts he turned to hate his people...
Acts 4:27–28:[The early Christians are addressing God.] Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.
Job 2:4–6: Satan replied...”Stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.” The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in yours hands; but you must spare his life.” [The point: Satan knew he could not touch Job without God decreeing it: “Put forth Thy hand.” God assigns the harassing of Job to Satan, yet clearly defines the limits beyond which he cannot operate: “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”}
Matthew 4:10–11: Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan!...” Then the devil left him....
Luke 22:31: Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat... [The point: Satan would not ask for permission if the power was already his, for it is not his nature to limit his actions simply to avoid displeasing God.]
in summary, all beings, things, and actions fall under God’s rule
Exodus 4:11: The Lord said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord?”
Psalm 33:10–11: The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.
Lamentations 3:38: Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?
Isaiah 45:7: I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things.
Ephesians 1:11: In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.
1 Thessalonians 3:3: You know quite well that we were destined for [trials].
It’s clear from these Scriptures and many more that God decrees all things, even to the point of allowing human suffering, but Satan often is the messenger of those decrees even as he fights against the God who issued them. When Satan, evil people, or “accidents” bring trials upon us, we can answer with Joseph to his brothers who sold him into slavery, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good” (Gen. 50:20).
