Can We Trust God?
Matt Bevin served as the Governor of Kentucky from 2015 to 2019. Before entering politics, he was a successful businessman and evangelical Christian. He is a family man with ten children. Their oldest is Brittiney. She had a passion for missions. Even at the age of 14, she thought seriously about dedicating her life to the mission field. Her father encouraged her desires by taking her on mission trips to India and Romania. When she was 17, she wrote in her diary that she wanted to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the broken. The next day she died in a car accident on Lexington road in front of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. She had dreams of serving the Lord, but the Lord took her at the age of 17.
In moments of tragedy, people will ask themselves, “Can we trust God? Why didn’t He stop it? Is God good? Is He wise? Is He loving?”
In response to his own personal trials, Jerry Bridges wrote, Trusting God. He writes, “If we are to trust God, we must learn to see that He is continuously at work in every aspect and every moment of our lives. We, therefore, can only trust God if we see Him as being sovereign, wise, and loving.”
Is God sovereign? Sovereignty refers to having control or power over a sphere. Hence, as R.C. Sproul said, “There is no maverick molecule in the universe.” The Bible teaches this truth in Psalm 115:3, “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.” Moreover, Proverbs 16:33 says, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” Chance and luck, therefore, do not exist. If they do, then God is not in control of everything. When facing this issue, people are tempted to either deny God’s sovereignty, which means God has no power to help them face their trials and their trials are meaningless, or they become angry with God, because He has not prevented the trial from happening. To do the latter is to question His wisdom.
Is God wise? God’s wisdom means that He knows everything that is to be known about everything, and He has always known it. Romans 11:33 says, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” When we face tragedies, we should not doubt God, but we should doubt our doubts. Did you create the universe out of nothing? Do you sustain it? Have you ever made a mistake? Well, God can answer yes to all three questions, and you cannot. Why would we trust our judgments over God’s?
Is God loving? God uses His sovereignty and wisdom to do what is loving for His people. After generations of idol worship, God removed Judah out of the Promised Land. He caused this trial to take place out of love for them. Lamentations 3:32-33 says, “though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men.” Just as a loving parent does not spoil his children, but he assigns them chores and disciplines them when they break the rules, God brings trials into our lives to bring unbelievers to salvation in Christ and believers into greater maturity.
What are the consequences of rejecting these truths? When a person doubts God’s sovereignty, wisdom, and love, he chooses anger, anxiety, worry, and depression. Why? Because God has given him a trial which he did not want, or God has withheld a desire which he wanted. In contrast, the individual who believes in these truths imitates Psalm 9:10. “And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.”
Over the next few weeks, we will study the Bible’s teaching on God’s sovereignty, wisdom, and love in more detail.
