Tag Archives: sovereignty

Trusting the God Who Doesn’t Explain Himself

November 14, 2014 High Point Church Leave a comment

The word sovereign doesn’t technically mean “in control.”

It means “in charge.” It means that something is rightly under someone’s authority or within their dominion.

Some will read that and say I’m playing with words, but the difference is important. It’s important because it means that we can’t say all actions are “caused by God.” Things that God says he finds terrible or evil are related to God in more complex ways. As the One who chooses how to interact with the created world, he may prevent it, permit it, direct it, or limit it (for a helpful reading, see Millard Erickson’s Christian Theology, pg. 372). As God works all things for the good of his own glory and name, as well as for our good, his rule still interacts with the amount of rebellious independence he allows to humans. This relationship is enormously complex, and I have never read a completely successful explanation of it.

Continue reading Trusting the God Who Doesn’t Explain Himself →

Learn and Grow

Is God Testing Me?

June 19, 2013 Nic Gibson Leave a comment

I’ve had a number of conversations recently with people asking why they are going through something. On some level many believe it’s a test. However, tests are actions for omniscient beings. Why would God give a painful test to find out an answer he already knows?

See if this explanation helps.

Some tests are merely exercises to find out how much we know – or perhaps who we are. However, some tests – those we have often called trials – are tests that actually make us into something rather than just reveal what we already are. That is, we become something in the test – it forces a choice and therefore a definition of identity and character.

This doesn’t change the issue of omniscience. God still knows the end from the beginning. It just changes the status of whether or not we needed the test. Continue reading Is God Testing Me? →