God's Sovereignty, Our Anxiety

“God is in control.”

Have you ever confided in someone regarding your worry or anxiety and heard those words spoken back to you? How did it make you feel? Maybe it was exactly the reminder you needed to hear. Or perhaps, as has often been my experience, this “comfort” didn’t have the intended effect at all.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand why we say it. After all, it’s true! And if we are, in fact, assured that God is ultimately in control of all things, it seems logical to assume that such a knowledge should keep us from ever feeling anxious again. But we all know that while knowledge of God’s sovereignty can and does ease our fears at times, that’s certainly not always the case. Why not?

Well, there’s the matter of our human sinfulness and frailty. Jesus was well aware of this condition. After all, His most common greeting to His disciples was one of reassurance: “Fear not!” But I think there is another reason why trusting in God’s sovereignty is not as simple of a matter as it might seem.

Theologian and pastor R.C. Sproul once told of a conversation he had with a friend about some of his fears. In response, his friend asked, “I thought you believed in the sovereignty of God?” “I do,” Sproul replied, “and that’s my problem.” Sproul went on to explain that he knew enough about what the Bible teaches of God’s sovereignty to know that it sometimes involves suffering and affliction for His people. Just read the book of Job, right? He continues:

That we are in the care of a sovereign God whose providence is benevolent does not exclude the possibility that He may send us into periods of trials and tribulations that can be excruciatingly painful. […] I don’t look forward to the experience of pain with a giddy anticipation; rather, there are afflictions that will test me to the limits of my faith and endurance. That kind of experience and knowledge makes it easy to understand the tension between confidence in God’s sovereign providence and our own struggles with anxiety.
R.C. Sproul

So where then is our hope in the midst of these valleys? That’s where this week’s KLRC Words of Hope come in:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28

Now, I’m not suggesting we simply replace one platitudinal response with another. Unlike Job’s “friends,” we must be willing to sit and mourn with those who are struggling before we preach to them. But in Romans 8:28, Paul beautifully captures the hope of God’s sovereignty. He does not say that everything that happens to us is good in and of itself, but that all things that happen are working together for our good. God’s redemptive master plan is in progress. He brings good out of evil. He brings glory out of suffering. He brings joy out of affliction.

As Sproul concluded, “We are not stoics who are called to keep a stiff upper lip out of some nebulous concept of fate; rather, we are to rejoice because Christ has overcome the world.” This is the foundation that makes it possible for the Christian to rejoice, even in the midst of pain and anxiety.

Thanks be to God!