God Is (Still) in Control - Brian Howard

 “God is in control.” We’ve heard it, we’ve said it, and we’ve probably even sung it. There are lots of ways to talk about how God is in control. He speaks all creation into existence in Genesis 1. Heholds “all things together” through Jesus in Colossians 1:17. He has a “plan and hand” in Acts 2:23. He enacts his “purpose and predestination” in Romans 8:29.

Naturally, God rules Heaven as well. He has control over it. He rulesover what the Psalms describe as “heavenly beings” (29:1). Isaiah sees him as “The Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up…” (Isaiah 6:1).

In a recent study of Job, I was struck with how God’s sovereignty and control are evident even in the introductory verses. In Job 1:6, Scripture tells us that “the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord…” We might wish to skip over this detail so we can get on with the story of Job, yet this small detail of a heavenly council is key to understanding God’s sovereignty in the rest of the book. 

Scholars debate who the “sons of God” are in this passage and what presenting themselves is all about. This divine council is translated in various places as “sons of God,” “angels,” or “heavenly beings.”That’s enough for a lengthy study right there, but for now, just consider this fact— the Lord has called the meeting, the Lord has organized this divine council.

God does not present himself to them, but rather they present themselves to Him.
God is in control. Understanding this clear cut sovereignty gives us cause to sit up and take notice in the next half of verse 6, which tells us,  “...and Satan also came among them. (Job 1:6b).

A bit of a chill runs down my spine as I read this. We know of the serpent in Genesis 3, but at this point in Job 1, it’s only the second time so far in Scripture that “The Satan” is mentioned by name. He will be here eleven times in the book of Job-- the most of any book of the Bible. As in Genesis, he appears out of nowhere— unannounced and unexpected (at least to us readers).

What we translate as “Satan” here is in the Hebrew, “the accuser,” or “the adversary,” or the Satan. Not “a Satan” or “some Satan,” mind you— but the one and only. He’s not invited or welcomed, he just “also came among them.” 

But here’s the thing, even with Satan showing up as the uninvited guest, God is still in control. After some conversation, the Lord issues a command to Satan in verse 12:

“And the Lord said to Satan, ‘Behold, all that [Job] has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord." (Job 1:12)

So yes, we can say “God is in control” when things are okay and going as we expect. But what about when things are tough? That’s when we need to remember that God is still in control. Here, we have the uncomfortable realization that God is in control over Satan’s attack on Job. It is God who asked Satan to consider Job (1:8) and it is God who laid out the ground rules. 

That’s some hard theology to comprehend, even as we read it comfortably from a distance. But Job himself was able to acknowledge this. Think of his response in Job 1:21 for example, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Christians ponder the interaction between God and Satan in this passage. Theologians debate whether or not Job “deserved” suffering. But one key takeaway I see is that even when all that Job has is in Satan’s hands, there’s not one moment in which Job is out of God’s hands. There’s not one step in which God is not furthering his divine plan, even as he uses Satan to help carry it out.

Can we also be so bold to say, as Job did, “The Lord gives, the Lord takes away, (but) blessed be the name of the Lord?” Let us pray that the Lord may grant us such a trusting faith, even in the midst of whatever suffering we may be facing right now. God is still in control.