Do you believe God is sovereign?
“I am the LORD, and there is no other.
I create the light and make the darkness.
I send good times and bad times.
I, the LORD, am the one who does these things.
“Open up, O heavens,
and pour out your righteousness.
Let the earth open wide
so salvation and righteousness can sprout up together.
I, the LORD, created them.” — Isaiah 45:6b–8
‘God not only governs gentle butterflies, fluffy puppies, healing technologies, and life-saving medications. He wields a greater, more comprehensive governance over everything.’ — Tony Reinke, God, Technology and the Christian Life
Last week, as I was scrolling my social media feeds, I saw two headlines that left me feeling a bit queasy.
First was the gloomy prediction from a former Anthropic and OpenAI researcher that artificial intelligence could wipe out human life within the next decade.
Second was a warning from a well-known Christian leader and author to ‘Prepare for war.’
As I returned to my work—with these existential-threats-to-civilisation at the back of my mind—I felt challenged by the question:
How much faith do you have in God’s sovereignty?
Not just, ‘Do you know that God is sovereign?’ Almost every Bible-believing Christian would affirm that belief on an intellectual level.
But, do you believe God is sovereign?
Do you live and pray as if He is the King of the universe?
Do you have faith that He is the One who rules and reigns over all things, the One who created, governs and sustains the cosmos, the One who was, and is, and is to come (Revelation 1:8)?
Resting in God’s sovereignty
Of course, in some ways, there is nothing new here.
Human beings have fretted about the future (and collapse) of civilisation from, well, the beginning of civilisation itself.
Jesus Himself warned His disciples: “you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic” (Matthew 24:6).
But I do think that the rapid progress of technology and the current geopolitical instability gives us reason to pause and reflect—do we, as God’s people, live and think as if He really is sovereign?
So often, for me at least, God’s sovereignty can seem abstract and distant. A theological reality I can affirm with my mind, but one that has little impact on my everyday life.
I can still find myself filled with anxiety about personal circumstances and existential threats I am powerless to control. War. Artificial intelligence. Food scarcity. Freak weather. Rising living costs.
Faith in God’s sovereignty means resting in the truth that God comprehensively controls and governs the universe and everything in it—in the past, in the present and in the future.
It also means believing that God has placed limits on all human activity and innovation. The world will not come to an end until the time that He has planned to return (read Matthew 24).
That also means that technological advancement cannot continue unchecked outside the boundaries that He has ordained.
If it is within His sovereign will that artificial intelligence continues to develop, it will do so—but no human scheme or innovation can take Him by surprise or disrupt His plans and purposes for His Church and His world.
No matter how bleak the future might seem, no matter how great the threat of war or the possibility of civilisational collapse or just the everyday stresses of life, we can know peace—real, deep, soul-peace—because we are held by the One who governs, sustains and orders all things for His glory.
Meditate on these truths today:
God created everything in heaven and earth through Jesus—thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities—and He holds all creation together (Colossians 1:16–17).
He created the light and the dark, and is sovereign over both the good times and the bad times (Isaiah 45:7).
God can do all things, and none of His plans and purposes can be thwarted (Job 42:2).
Nothing comes to pass without God’s permission—He is the One who sends both calamity and good (Lamentations 3:37–39).
If you are in Christ, you have been chosen by Him and He is working out His purposes in your life according to His plan (Ephesians 1:11).
Not even a sparrow falls to the ground without the Father’s knowledge—you are much more valuable than that, and you can trust that God will fully care for your needs (Matthew 10:29–31).
You have eternal life through Jesus, and no-one can snatch you from His hand (John 10:28).
God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28).
Nothing in this world—not even the powers of hell—can separate you from God’s love (Romans 8:38–39).
God protects His faithful people by His power until we receive our salvation fully (1 Peter 1:5).
God is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with joy into His presence (Jude 24).
Look to Jesus
Of course, knowing and believing these truths is not to say that it’s always easy to trust God’s sovereignty. Faith in His sovereignty doesn’t leave us without questions.
We might sometimes wonder why God doesn’t seem to step in to intervene in certain situations. We might doubt His plans and purposes. We might call into question His goodness.
In our questions and doubts, we are to look to Jesus.
In Him, we see that the Father’s heart is wholly committed to our good, even when our circumstances conspire to undermine our belief in Him.
If God, in His sovereignty, did not spare His own Son to save and redeem us (Romans 8:32), we can be assured that He will bring His purposes to completion in us and in the world around us.
We may not be in control of the circumstances of our everyday lives or the world around us—but we are held by the One who is.
He is sovereign over the universe, and He is sovereign over your life. No matter how dark and hopeless the world around us seems, we can trust that nothing can happen outside His sovereign will—and He will protect and preserve us, His people, until the very end.
Today, rest in Him. When you are filled with anxiety about “wars and threats of wars”, invite the Holy Spirit to soothe your heart and mind with the reality of God’s sovereignty.
When everything around you appears to be collapsing, collapse into the arms of the One who holds all things together by His mighty power.
“All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” — Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love
With love,
Mike