I Samuel 12:12&17 …you said to me (Samuel), “We will have a king!”, though the Lord is your king! … Realize and see what a great sin you have committed before the Lord by demanding to have a king.
The sovereignty of God is a complex topic – especially for a short format like Cafe Sophia. There are many differing theological views, some of which are problematic in their one-dimensional approach to the mystery of God. After major events, such as the recent US presidential election, Christians often conclude that the outcome “must have been God’s will … His plan.” That, I believe, is an unbiblical approach to the topic of sovereignty.
One of the best pictures of God’s sovereignty and omniscience was presented to me by a quantum physicist. Ray told me to imagine a wheel with 1000 spokes. You are at the center of those spokes as you face any decision. Each spoke is a slight variation of the next one, and every spoke has a complete opposite possibility. Ray said, “Not only is God aware of every possibility and where it might lead you, but He is the One who has allowed every possibility that is before you.” God is omniscient and sovereign. We have free will to choose any spoke, even out of a billion spokes. Not every option is a good choice, so God gives us scripture and the Holy Spirit to guide us – but the choice is ours. God knows where every decision will lead, and He supplies other “spokes” that can bring us back home should we get lost along the way. This simple understanding of an infinite, sovereign God comes closer to representing the reality in our lives and in scripture than suggesting that whatever happens is simply God’s plan.
I Samuel 12 is the story of Israel rejecting God by demanding a king of their own. In world history, people have chosen Stalin and Hitler while other wicked leaders have risen to power by force or deceit. These were not the good plan of God, yet God allowed them to happen. Events occurring in a king’s dominion that aren’t according to his will don’t negate the king as the sovereign. He is sovereign because he has the final say. God is sovereign because He can cause anyone to rise or to fall. But that is different than suggesting that every rise or fall is from the hand of God. Ultimately the final say IS His! My purpose today isn’t to ascribe God’s will or disapproval to any outcome of the elections in the US, rather, to point to the biblical truth that we have free will. Just as Israel did, we can reject God. One day, however, God’s own King will return, take possession of His people, and rule forever! Nothing can stop or alter that plan of our sovereign Lord!