Any discussion of God’s sovereignty produces questions. If God is in control, and all-powerful, as the Bible teaches He is, why does evil exist? Why did the serpent have access to the Garden? What if Adam & Eve never sinned?
Because sin came into the world, we all live under the consequences of sin. The world no longer enjoys the perfect state in which God created it. Suffering, pain, and death are all part of the human experience. The history recorded in the Bible begins with the creation of a perfect world, which is ruined by sin. The rest of the Bible reveals God’s plan of redemption, and ends with the New Heaven, New Earth and the end of all death and suffering.
Our world is broken. Shattered. A broken world proves beyond a doubt that man with all his wisdom, technology, and greatest inventions cannot fix it. The things man designs for good purposes are used by someone to take advantage of others. We see it over and over again. Nuclear energy that can provide power to cities is used to create bombs that destroy cities. Computers designed to help people function more efficiently are used to track people’s activities with the intent to control them. Whatever good purposes may have been intended for A.I., it is easily used to mislead, deceive and confuse.
All the ideas of man to preserve or fix the world are proving futile. But God is the God of redemption. He redeems what is broken, whether broken lives or broken worlds. Nothing is redeemable apart from Him, but through Him nothing is beyond redemption.
God is sovereign. Nothing is beyond His control. He could have programmed history to avoid the temptation by Satan and the fall of man. But what if the fall was needed for the fulfillment of His perfect plan? God is not the author of evil, but nothing can happen apart from His allowing it. If He allows it, He allows it for His good purposes.
What if the pain is necessary? What if there are things about God’s character we could never understand apart from suffering? What if it is necessary to see evil in order to recognize the goodness of God?
In our sin, we learn of God’s forgiveness. In our suffering and confusion, we learn of His compassion, His sustaining power, and His guidance. In our weakness, we learn of His strength. It is only in our neediness we can discover the riches we have in Christ.
Through the fall and the resulting effects of a broken world, God let’s us see that His ways are not our ways. Our ways do not work. His ways are perfect. In order to worship Him, we must learn He is God and we are not. We must desire to align our wills with his. We must be open to His leading and ready to yield to His direction. Knowing Him as our Savior and Redeemer is a springboard for worshiping Him through all eternity.
Yours, LORD is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. 1 Chronicles 29:11
I would love to hear your thoughts. Please leave a comment below.
Blessings,
Phyllis
© 2026 Phyllis L. Farringer
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Thanks for the post, Phyllis. I’m grateful for God’s complete, everlasting forgiveness, love, and mercy.
Yes, we have so many reasons to be thankful, because God is so gracious to us. Thanks for reading, Joni.