Is God Really In Control Of Everything?

Those who hold to Reformed theology will claim that God is in control of everything that goes on in this world. However, this is not the Biblical view.

Throughout Scriptures we can observe where God intervenes in the world.  If God were in control, then He would not have to intervene.  The Bible shows that God is selectively involved in the affairs of the world.
I would say that God is in control, but with the clarification that there is nothing beyond His ability to intervene.  God has all authority and power and can do whatever He wants.  But it is wrong to say “God is in control” if a person means by that statement that God is controlling every little detail in this world.  In that sense, God is not in control.

To cause less confusion, we can say, “God is in charge.”

Furthermore, people have a free will.  God can force people to do His will if He so desires, but He has chosen not to completely control everyone.

God is not in control.  

Jesus taught the prayer, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…”  Can we honestly say that His will is being done today?  There are things happening this very moment that grieves God’s heart.

Does God have any control at all?   We can say God is selectively in control, but not in complete control.   To say God controls everything, there would be those who could claim, without reservation, that they are victims at the hand of God. They can blame God for making their life miserable.  Full responsibility is placed on God alone, and why not since they are told God is in control.

Have you ever heard the question,  ’If God is in control, why is there so much suffering in the world?”   The world scoffs at the answers most Reformed Christians try to give that just sounds like a bunch of nonsense.  Their answers tend to turn people away from God, not closer to Him. No matter what the answer, there is still human suffering and it shows that God favors one over the other if God were in total control.

So we are only left with two options when people seem that they have to make a decision about this God:

1.  Either God is in control
2.  Or He is completely uninvolved

Since it is hard to accept the first option because of all the suffering at the hand of God, they will apt for the second.

To accept the first option, one must conclude that God is responsible for all the pain, all the rapes, all the killing of babies, the cause of wars, the cause of all diseases, strokes, cancer, the homeless, people starving, and those being killed for their faith and so on.  This makes God fully responsible because He is said to be “in control.”  There is no way around this no matter how one tries to squirm out of the issue. It’s not enough to say, “God knows what is best for us and we must accept that by faith.”  This same person will find himself asking the same question when it strikes home.

Third Option?

However, there is a third option.  The Biblical view.  God has set up this world so that it runs according to natural laws, and the fact that all human beings have a free will. Yes, God may intervene, and God does influence this world through responses to our prayers, our relationships, and spiritual laws.  And God has promised that there will come a day when “there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain…” (Rev. 21:3-4)

So why do we have so much suffering in the world?  Because God is not in control. We have natural disasters because this world is running according to natural laws.   People hurt one another because they have a free will.  There is also evil  spiritual beings that can cause illness, but not all illnesses are necessarily from evil spirits.

The Biblical view is that God is not in control; not because He doesn’t have the ability or power, but because He chooses not to exert that power in all situations.  Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, among other Biblical characters, understood God was not in control, but they did know God was “in charge” and therefore had no problems approaching God with prayers, tears, requests and praise.