(Ver 1.3)  This is Part 1 in a very basic series of Bible lessons on the revealed nature and character of God. In these lessons we are going to confront a popular and controversial misconception that is being spread in many churches by many confused preachers. This belief has been transferred to their church members and is often spoken in public by Christians. I hear it on Facebook very often. People will post little things on their walls passing on the responsibility for everything that occurs in their life to God. On the national news recently I heard a precious Christian couple accuse God of their house burning to the ground. In tears they said to the reporter “God does not put more on us than what we can bare”. In stating that, they had just attributed the loss of all of their natural possessions to the acts of Almighty God and implied that He was in complete control of the situation. I then heard more of the news report and wondered why the police were still looking for an arsonist that started the fire when it was actually God’s fault according to the couple. I often wonder what people think when they say things like this and then I wonder what the message is being presented to the world that is listening to these kinds of statements. Let me ask you this question and see what you think today:  

Is God really in control of everything?

I am sure that there are a lot of opinions on this subject, but is opinion the thing that is really important in the world?  Do you believe that everything that happens to you is what God has planned? If yes, how do you know for sure that God controls what happens to you? How would you ever prove that to anyone? What evidence do you possess for that accusation? A lot of religious people are driven by the idea that God is absolutely sovereign and therefore they have taken that truth and extended it to include that whatever happens to them must have been something that God has instigated, has caused to occur, commanded to transpire or at the very least has allowed or permitted to happen. After all they have reasoned that if it was not the will of God for it to happen, then He could have stopped it since He holds the power and ability to do that. Insurance agencies often times have clauses in their contract that state “Acts of God” are not covered. They of course are referring to natural disasters like fires, hurricanes, tornados and floods. But are these the works of God? How can they be? If they kill people and destroy their homes, lives and property? Are these the works of your God? I can tell you for sure that they are not the works of my loving God? So we must have different Gods? Recently we saw on the news a crazy man that stood up and shouted “Allah is great” and started shooting soldiers and civilians.  In other shooting in Colorado we saw a man walk into a movie theatre and kill a bunch of people.  Were these all of the orchestrated works of God? If it was then I don’t want that God.

 The humorous thing that I have noticed about people who claim that God is in control of everything is that they never give us any scriptures to back that belief statement.  Do you know of any scriptures that says “I am the LORD and I am in control of what happens to you.”?  How about “I AM the Lord that sends you every clamity, test and trials”?  I’ve never seen it, if it exists.  So if there is no scriptural basis for your beliefs, what are your beliefs based upon? What kind of foundation are you standing upon?   It sounds like your opinion or your theory and that is worth less than 2 cents to me.  I once heard someone give a great definition of what a theory is and it went something like this:

Theory:  A supposition based upon ignorance of the subject under discussion.

What a true statement that is.  Too many people have a theory about what God is like, who God is and what God does.  But how worthless is that information.  Here is the number one problem with saying God is in control of everything that happens, good, bad or indifferent.  You see when so many evil things happen to someone, no one can come up with a Bible answer for why it happened?  They always just claim that God is smarter and wiser than we are and we can’t understand His ways, He must have had a higher purpose in taking your child.  That is another idiotic opinion that I don’t mind telling you repels me away from a God who says in His Word that He loves us while causes a terrorist plane to fly into the side of a building killing hundreds and even thousands of people.

Of course religion quickly answers God had a purpose in it.  Why?  Because He did nothing to stop it from happening?  So how did you come to the conclusion that it was God’s responsibility to stop it or do anything about it?  What Bible verse is that logic based upon?  Can you help me?  The religious minded person, very often resort to a theory of what I call a “No Fault” Religion.  No matter what happens to me in life, it is not my fault.  I hope you see the problem, that means it doesn’t matter what you do, how you live, where you go, who you marry, where you work, if you live in sin or you become a nun, it just doesn’t matter.  According to that philosophy, God is going to let happen to you and me everything that He desires regardless of what you or I do.   I can’t find that in the Bible any where either.  You know what I found in my Bible was a statement that says “God is not mocked, whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Gal 6:7).  So apparently according to this verse it is not up to God after all what happens to you.  It appears to matter more what you do and the seeds that you plant in this life to determine what you will reap.  If you are getting a poor crop of bad, evil things happening to you, start checking to see what you have been sowing.  This is a spiritual law of planting and reaping, but that is not my subject primarily, so I’ll move on.

So if God is not in control who is?  This is an interesting question that is answered with the Word of God.  I’ll start with Genesis 1:26:

Genesis 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

This verse is obviously ignored by people who teach God is in control.  God himself speaking in this verse says “Let them have dominion over all the sea, air and earth and everything that is in them or on them”.  That doesn’t leave anything out does it?  Dominion is a term denoting authority and ruler ship.  It is God’s delegation of control.  It is a transfer of responsibility from God to man.  That is obviously tough for many to swallow and to comprehend.  How can God turn over the earth to a man that was going to screw it up and fail?  But before we go there let’s confirm this verse with another witness:

Psalm 115:16  The heaven, even the heavens are the LORD’s: but the earth hath  he given to the children of men.

Obviously another scripture religious people like to ignore, but this verse says the Heavens belong to God, but the earth was given to Adam and his children.  Let me ask you to think about this, have you ever given someone a present, maybe something really nice and very valuable?  After they took your gift and left was it your responsibility to guard it and protect it so that nothing would ever happen to it?  Of course not!  Once given and received, tt was out of your hands, you no longer had any right to say what happens to it, they could throw it in the trash or give it away to someone else and you don’t have any right to it anymore.  Do you understand that concept?   This is exactly what God did with the earth.

All of this doesn’t mean that God can’t participate in helping man out or doing something if he is asked to do it, but it does mean that God must ask permission to do something on earth, since He has given it to man to control.  I know that really bugs religious people, since God is sovereign, omnipotent and if He wants to do something they believe that He can just do it.  I really don’t understand that kind of logic when it is associated and applied to a God who cares about His integrity, His reputation, His character, His moral values, His self worth, His honor, and above all His Word.  That sounds more like Satan than God.  God will not violate your rights to choose.  God will not force you to do anything.  God will not override your will, your desires or your intentions.  God will not make you believe in Him.  God will not save you if you do not want to be saved.  Etc. etc.   If He did that He would be the great puppet master and a control freak and not a loving God.  God will let you strap on a bomb and blow yourself up, but is that what He wanted for you?  Was that God’s plan for you life, NO WAY!

So when people say God is in control just ask for a Bible verse that says that before you believe something so ridiculous.  Before I close I’ll give you some more Bible verses to consider.  In 2 Corinthians 4:4 Satan is directly called the God of this world.  I thought God was in control of this world?  Un Oh?  It appears someone forgot to tell Paul.  If Satan is the god of this world, that explains tornados, hurricanes, and floods much better to me.  Remember when Jesus was in the boat crossing the sea and a storm came up and almost sank the boat.  The disciples woke Jesus up and told Him they were about to perish and Jesus went to the front of the boat and looked at the wind and the waves stopped the storm by speaking to it.  Uh OH Again?  If God caused the storm and then stopped the storm He must be confused, or schizophrenic or maybe His house is just divided working against itself.  Today I like storms and tomorrow I don’t.  He just cant’ seem to make up His mind do I want a storm to sink them or do I want it calm.   Maybe God starts storms and only Jesus stops them.  How crazy is that?  I know that my Bible says Jesus was God in the flesh and He said when you have seen me you have seen the Father.  So whater Jesus did is what God does.  Therefore there is no way that God starts the storm and then stops it.  There are just too many problems with the theory that God is controlling everything.

What we need to realize is that Jesus said in John 10:10 “The thief has only come to kill, steal and destroy, but I came that you might have life…”  If it kills, if it destroys something you own, or if it is stolen from you, that was not God in control causing it to happen, that was Satan demonstrating his power and you letting him do it.

 I’ll do one more scripture that helps us to understand who is in charge now.  This verse is a statement made by Jesus Christ after His resurrection and it goes like this:

Matthew 28:18  And Jesus cam and spake unto them saying, All power is given unto me in heave and in earth.

Again we see a major problem with the God is in control of everything theory; Jesus who is God says that all power is now given to Him in heaven and on the earth.  But, I thought God already had all power over heaven and earth?  According to many theologians He did.  Obviously Jesus is just confused and He doesn’t realize what He is talking about.  Please don’t be ignorant!  Jesus knows exactly what He is talking about and the authority of both heaven and earth was transferred back to God at the resurrection of Christ.  But, what did Jesus immediately do with it and who did He get it back from?  So many good questions to ponder.  But I’ve given you enough to think about for now.  I hope that you do the research in your Bible to answer these questions.   Until next time, God bless you in your Bible study.

If you would like to continue reading in this series you may goto “Part 2“.