Two truths about God are attacked every day in my life, and it is my work to believe in them: God is good and God is sovereign. As with Eve and Adam, Satan doesn’t need to be creative with me in his accusations of God. If he can convince me that God has no power to intervene in my life and that God’s will is the worst thing ever, then he’s got me. I was reminded of this last week when I spoke to someone dear to me about an ongoing situation in her life.
The Attack on God is Good
An opportunity presented itself and by all appearances it was THE answer to her prayer. But then the worm turned and this beautiful opportunity turned out to be much less than perfect. My friend was confused and worried and more than a little bit crushed. She had been so sure that this was God’s provision, and now it looked almost like a bigger mess than her original dilemma. Let the accusing begin!
Is this who God is? Does He give me a beautiful piece of fruit that’s rotten on the inside? Is His will merely a vehicle for increased suffering? Does He offer the carrot then smack me with a stick? These are the questions born of accusation. And if you’re human and honest, you’ve entertained some variation of them at one point or another.
That God is good is a truth that must be defended again and again because Satan will ALWAYS call His goodness into question. “For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:5). What is Satan really saying here? He’s saying that God is small and petty and scared of His own creation. He’s saying that not only does God lie, He lies because He’s threatened and defensive and determined to hoard power that rightfully belongs to us. Isn’t this an apt description of every petty tyrant the world has ever known? That’s who Satan wants us to believe that God is.
The Attack on God is Sovereign
In addition to being crestfallen about the opportunity’s big flaws, my friend also felt pressured to accept the conditions presented to her, because what if that was the best she’d get? What if nothing else came up? Given that mine wasn’t the mind under attack, I scoffed at that. Really? God, the Creator of all there is, cannot provide another opportunity? God is good AND God is sovereign. He can and does do exactly what He wills. Satan himself can’t do anything without God’s permission, the Book of Job makes that completely clear. Just because we can’t see a way out, doesn’t mean there isn’t one. Just because we don’t know what tomorrow will bring, doesn’t mean that it won’t arrive.
God is infinitely able and He is LOVE. His goodness and mercy are so vast that we will probably know only the tip of the iceberg though we have all eternity to hear the stories. God is good. God is good and God is sovereign! In every crisis and difficulty and loss and even the smallest disappointment, God’s goodness and His sovereignty are attacked. But His power and character are assured and they are true; it is our job to believe the truth about God and defend Him when the accusations come. God is sovereign and God is good.
For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.
Jeremiah 29:11 AMPC
Thank you for this insight. I have always struggled with the goodness and sovereignty of God. Though I am getting to know the truth but sometimes still afraid in situations when His will is difficult and painful
You didn’t answer the question but went in circles. Yet you choose to write? there was nothing you said that gave clear direction as to why God is sovereign. And job is the worse example because in job God made himself present. If God spoke to me audibly and had a conversation with me like job I too would say I have nothing to say. Why because the being of all creation made it a point to physically show himself via a whirlwind that talks. You didn’t offer any truth but receited what everyone else does when press with a… Read more »
Hey Rafael, thank you for commenting. I am sorry Jennifer’s post didn’t minister to you what you had hoped for. I wonder if this booklet from Martha Kilpatrick might fill in those gaps. There are some excerpts at the link. Let me know if it helps> Also All and Only is one that has really enlightened the subject for me. God bless you and take care.
Amen and amen.
Curiously enough, you can only defend God’s character by knowing God’s character. We have not the mental strength to make our heart believe God is good… or loves us. God is not good by mental assent. We go to Him with our hearts and know Him as He is in our heart: providing Father.
Martha is talking about this in His devotionals, and how awesome that is.
Love to you.
I think you may have misunderstood my point, Sam. Defending God to myself doesn’t require mental strength or even an experience of His goodness. Free will gives me a choice, much more than just mental assent. I can choose to believe that God is who He says He is, even as a blind, bitter unbeliever. That’s the beauty and terrible responsibility of free will – I always have a choice.
Hello Jen. I have just read your comment. Sorry for not coming before. To my short understanding today, the line of human “free will” is very, very thin. Yes, we have it, even as “unbelievers”, as you say. I completely believe in free will. But in the power of my will (by myself) I have always chosen what is not correct. I tend to evil over, and over again. Talking about myself, I do not believe in the force of my will but to humilliate myself to God so that He can give me the power to believe. I find… Read more »
It is a choice.
If I choose to see circumstances as anything other than Good – then I don’t believe God is sovereign.
It is a faith choice for truth.
Love.