What is considered one man’s offence is another man’s comfort. God’s sovereignty is such a  matter.

Have you wondered how much of what happens in the world is “coincidental” and how much is god-ordained? Does God let the world run its course on its own most of the time but intervenes time to time to make his presence known? (We call these miracles) Or is God in control of every single element at all times and makes His presence known especially pronouncedly time to time? I think most of us (Christians anyway) lean toward the first thought – God will intervene time to time but vast majority of the time, the world runs on its own.

But then, what do you do with a verse like this one? “Proverb 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.”  or Prov. 16:9, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his way.” This means, every time a dice is roll in Las Vegas, the Lord determines what it’s going to land. When Richard Sherman tipped that pass against the 49ers to go to the Superbowl, that was the Lord who guided that football just an inch short so that he could tip it. When the Malaysian airline went down in flames last week, that was the Lord who guided that missile to that plane…

That feels very uncomfortable, so we Christians will deflect it by saying that the Lord had no part in it. It was us humans who did the evil. (Or the good). But this has negative implications as well. That means ultimately God is not in charge. Something else – call it “chance” or “coincidences” – is in charge. And God is a victim just like we are. In trying to excuse God from doing evil, we make Him out to be just as helpless as we are when tragedies strike all around us.

But that’s not how the Bible describes God. He is absolutely in charge. Not a sparrow falls to the ground without God ordaining it! But our God is such an amazing God that He incorporates our decisions into His sovereign will. So, we cannot just sit back and say, “Since God is in charge, it doesn’t matter what I do. What’s going to happen will happen!” God uses us as a means to bring about His will.

What I’m striving to get you to see is our limitations. And God’s infinite nature. Take comfort in the fact that God is in charge. There is no such thing as meaningless death.

PH