If God is in control, why is there so much pain
and injustice in the world? I mean, if God knows
everything, why doesn't he stop bad things from
happening before people get hurt? If those questions
trouble you the way they do me and you need solid
answers, stick around. Thanks for listening to
this edition of Living on the Edge with Chip
Ingram. We are an international teaching and
discipleship ministry that motivates Christians
to live like Christians. Today, we're continuing
our series, The Real God, How He Longs for You
to See Him. Last time, Chip talked about God's
sovereignty and started to highlight the specific
ways He reveals that characteristic to us. And
today, Chip will finish that point when he dives
back into Romans chapter 8. So grab your Bible
and notes as we join Chip for the remainder of
this insightful talk. Jesus' whole life demonstrates
the sovereignty of God himself. And finally,
unlike his very humble beginnings, that he's
meek and he's gentle, he came in his first coming
to be the savior of the world. And I think a
lot of us, maybe from our childhoods, have a
picture of the little children coming to him.
Those great pictures of a woman caught in adultery
being forgiven and the widow with her son died,
touching the coffin he's raised from the dead
and feeding the 5 ,000s and speaking to the storm
and just his compassion and his love. And that's
God. But when you read the book of Revelation,
read it really fast. No, no, I mean, just read
it really fast and quit worrying about what seals
are doing, what seals and, you know, what's blowing
up and what's a figure and what's not. And just
ask yourself, who's Jesus? Who's Jesus in the
book of Revelation? He's the righteous judge
who's coming to bring all things under his rule
and power and anything that was unjust and unfair
and wrong and every opportunity will be given.
But the righteous judge is coming to judge his
world because he's a king. Listen to the end
of the book of Revelation in Revelation chapter
19. Then I saw the heavens open and behold a
white horse and the one sitting on it is called
faithful and true. And in righteousness, he judges
and makes war. His clothing is a robe dipped
in blood, and the name which he is called is
the word of God. On his robe and on his thigh,
he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord
of Lords. That's who's coming back. That's the
sovereign God. Now, at the emotional level, at
least where I live, the last reason I've given
here of God revealing his sovereignty, is through
redeeming pain in our lives. He redeems pain
in our lives. If you are a student of scripture
and you would read the book of Genesis, you would
understand that every major doctrine, it's the
book of beginnings. Every major doctrine is in
the book of beginnings. Where did life come from?
Creation. Why is there evil? The fall. You have
the first judgment in the flood. You have the
promise after that. You have the choosing of
a family, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, of God's
plan, God's lineage of his plan to fulfill this
Messiah that was foretold that one day, you know,
his heel will be bruised, but he will defeat
the enemy. And God's plan, it's all laid out
in Genesis, and you've got 50 chapters. If you're
a person who lived a few thousand years ago or
born a couple days ago, you don't have to live
very long. before the probing question, and some
of you ask it is, if God is really good, how
could the world be this messed up? Genesis chapter
37 through 50, that's 13 of 50 chapters. It's
over 25 % of the book is on one man's life, Joseph.
Joseph gets a dream from God. It's a promise
that he hangs on to. It's how God is speaking
to people at the time. He has a father who does
poor parenting, shows partiality. So his brothers
hate him. His brothers hate him and they decide
they're going to kill him. They're jealous of
him. They're going to kill him. They're tired
of him. And he probably didn't handle the revelation
from God very well. He's a bit arrogant and that's
going to get taken care of. And so they decide
they're going to kill him. So they stick him
in a pit while they're waiting to kill him. And
it just so happens, or God sovereignly. brings
a caravan from Egypt. And they say, why kill
him? And the one brother's trying to get him
out anyway. So they sell him. And so it's unjust.
It's unfair. Joseph is just a son. He's the youngest.
And first his brothers reject him. How many of
you have been through a major rejection? Okay.
Well, what's it feel like if all your brothers,
and you know, our rejections are like, you know,
emotional. This is like, they want to kill him.
And then they sell him. And so they sell him.
He's on the caravan. He doesn't speak the language.
He doesn't know anyone. So he ends up on an auction
block in Egypt as a slave. And a guy named Potiphar,
who basically is the equivalent of the secret
service for Pharaoh, buys him. And so he buys
him and he makes him his slave. And he obviously
learns the language. And all chapters 37 through
50, there's this... And the Lord is with Joseph,
and Joseph, no matter what, this promise, this
God who he actually believes, fulfills his promises,
who actually believes is good, somehow, someway,
he hangs on and doesn't abandon his faith. And
he also seems to have a highly developed gift
of administration that when he's in charge of
something, it flourishes. And so it doesn't take
long for Potiphar to realize this guy's got some
wherewithal and some capacity. He puts him over
his business, then all of his household and everything
he touches, the hand of God, a blessing. Well,
apparently he's a pretty good looking young man.
And Potiphar's wife says, you know, my husband's
gone a lot during the day. We could have sex.
We'd have a great time. And most men would say,
well, let's see, rejection. God promised me this.
My brothers sell me out. I've been a slave, you
know, but not Joseph. He says, how could I sin
against your husband? He's put everything under
my charge except for you. And I could not sin
against my God. And so he rebuffs her seduction.
But one day he's kind of just doing a little
bit of work and the house is empty and she finds
him and she says, now come lay with me. And he
does what almost no man would ever do in this
situation is he flees and she grabs his jacket.
And so she's left with the jacket and she's humiliated.
And so her husband comes home. What have you
done to bring this crazy Hebrew he tried to rape
me? And so he ends up in jail. So it's gone from
bad, bad to worse. So now he's falsely accused.
Now he goes to jail. He goes to jail. His administrative
gifts show up again. He seems to have a great
attitude no matter what. And pretty soon the
head of the jail goes, you know, we're going
to have him run this place. And so he does. And
it flourishes and flourishes and flourishes.
But I mean, think of this. Where's God? Where's
God? You know, if God loves me, why would my
brothers reject me? If God loves me, I did all
that I could. In fact, I was righteous and I
was falsely accused. Well, then a couple guys
in Pharaoh's household, cupbearer and the baker,
they have a bad day. And so they end up in prison
and they both have a dream. And Joseph said,
well, you know, my God has given me an ability.
Tell me what your dreams are. And he reveals
to me kind of what dreams are sometimes. One
guy says, this is my dream. Another guy says,
this is my dream. He says to one guy, good news
for you. You're going to get your job back. You're
going to die. And it comes true, you know. And
so he says to the cupbearer, hey, you know, this
happened, this happened, this happened, this
happened. Don't forget me. Oh, no, I could never
forget you. Thanks so much. He forgets him. I
mean, start asking yourself, I mean, let's get
this out of a Bible story. Rejection. Injustice.
Falsely accused. Forgotten. How's that feel?
He's a 17 -year -old kid. Well, the story continues
and the Pharaoh has a dream and his wise men
and the sorcerers and he's very frustrated. They're
not giving him good answers. So he comes up with
a plan. Look, either you guys tell me what the
dream is and what it means or I kill all of you.
And that got the cupbearer's memory jogged. He's
thinking to himself, you know what? Joseph did
it once for me. So the text literally says he
took a shave. He came in before Pharaoh. He hears.
He says, Pharaoh, this is what you dreamed. There's
going to be seven years of abundance followed
by seven years of scarcity. Here's the deal.
You better plan in the future. You need to save
a bunch of grain because it's going to be awesome
for seven years. And then it's going to be the
pits. And if you're not prepared, you and Egypt
go down the toilet. This is a very loose Ingram
translation, but you get the idea. I mean, that's
the essence of it. And so, you know, Pharaoh
goes, well, hey, no one could, you're the man,
you do it. So at 30, he's now the second most
powerful person in the world. None of which could
happen if he'd not been rejected, sold as a slave,
falsely accused, and forgotten. God had a purpose.
Now, are all those people responsible for their
sin? Yes. Will God judge all those people for
what they did? Righteous judgment? Yes. The story
fast forwards. uses his gifts. He has a couple
boys. He names them names that... Let us know
the heartache and the pain and the hurt that
had really happened. And he names his boys names
that remind him of both God's faithfulness and
the pain and the hurt. And after the seven years,
this famine spreads not just to Egypt, but to
the known world. And the family is at about 70
now. And finally, they come to Egypt to get grain.
And I'll let you read all the details of the
story. But he tests his brothers, but his heart
just breaks and he weeps. And he reveals himself
to his brothers. And he asks, Pharaoh and he
brings all 70 people and they get this prime
real estate in Goshen. And God uses that as the
incubator to fulfill for the next 400 years,
it grows from 70 people to about two or three
million people. And then dad dies, Jacob. And
his brothers, being the high integrity, faithful,
God -fearing men that they are, think to themselves,
Joseph probably was just good to us while dad
was alive and it's going to get bad. And so they
start making up some stuff to try and get on
his good side. And I believe with all my heart,
Joseph looked at them and I think his head tilted
and I think tears streamed down his face. Guys,
you still don't get it, do you? You didn't send
me here. You meant it for evil, but God meant
it for good to preserve these many people alive.
You're listening to Living on the Edge, and we'll
get back to Chip's message in just a minute.
You know, we love to hear how you are deepening
your relationship with God as you study His Word
with us. But another way we want to support you
in that is through our free resource called Daily
Discipleship with Chip. Let me encourage you
to stick around after this message, as Chip will
tell you more about it and how to sign up. But
for now, let's get back to the remainder of his
talk. You might jot in your notes the Genesis
50 -20 principle. The sovereignty of God is the
greatest and deepest comfort in a fallen world.
because of what we shared a little bit early
about the freedom God's given us. He marks off
for a season where evil is allowed and corruption
and terrible things happen, but not for everyone,
but for those who say, I want to follow Yahweh,
the God of the Bible, follow Jesus. I'm going
to stay on your path regardless because crisis
and pain and injustice and difficulty make some
people and break others. For some, it's... It's
the story of a life of faith that none of us
can understand as God meets them. And for others,
they abandon God. And by the way, one of my greatest
concerns about all this prosperity stuff that's
being taught is that when people believe that
somehow there's some little formula and that
God has committed himself to make you healthy,
wealthy, everything's going to go your way. And
when that doesn't happen, they are completely
disillusioned with God. But that's not the God
of the Bible because he never promised those
things. This really rings home for me. I think
of when I taught this, sometimes things come
to me that aren't in my notes, and I just got
done talking, and I said this, and I looked down,
and I looked at my wife. And it just popped in
my mind. She was married before I met her, and
she wasn't a Christian. And she was married to
a guy that found he could make more money selling
drugs than going to work. And he had an affair
for over a year, year and a half with someone
that she was unaware of. And then he found out
that she was pregnant, twins. And so he leaves
her and she's left and has two babies, no income,
no anything. And out of her desperation, she
just said, I just want, I wanted to quit on life.
My whole life was wrapped up in that man. Now
I've got two little boys and I don't know how
I'm going to support him. I'm going to do, and
a neighbor watched the kids and her, her boss
led her to Christ. I met her a couple years later
when she was growing into this tender, amazing
woman of God out of all that pain. You know what?
That guy meant it for evil. God meant it for
good. I got to marry her. I got to adopt those
two little boys. I got to watch kids that when
the door would open, they were so fearful that
they would run and stick their head behind her
knee. And I got to see him become men. And I've
seen him grow. And I've seen him marry godly
women. And I'm watching him raise their kids.
I'm thinking, oh, God, that guy meant it for
evil. You meant it for good. Can I tell you,
though, that there's a reason we went to counseling.
There's a reason we had all kind of struggles.
I mean, she had wounds and hurts. And I had just
as many, but mine were more sophisticated. I
covered mine up better. But I think, you know,
38 years later, what a gift from God that came
out of betrayal and evil and sin and adultery.
I thought as I looked down at her, I thought
we got some really bad news and found out she
had cancer. And after, you know, we've been married
over 30 years and after all that struggle, I
mean, I just, I thought we had about as good
a marriage as we could have. Hey, we get normal
struggles like everybody. I mean, rich and deep.
And then I remember thinking, you know, I don't
know if I'm going to have another month or two
months or a year or two years. And I just canceled
everything for a year other than the local church.
And, you know, tell that publisher, here, you
want your money back? I'm not going to write
a book. I'm not going to go anywhere. And after
surgery, I drove her to every single one of the
Stanford appointments. And she would go through
the treatments. And then after each treatment,
we would stop at Starbucks. And we would get
one oatmeal cookie. And they would heat it up.
And then we would break it in half. And she was
just so wiped out, those treatments. And then
we would sit in the car and we'd eat our oatmeal
cookie. And I remember looking over and thought,
I did not know that I could love another human
being as much as I love my wife. It was like
I knew there was, you know, I thought we had
a four speed. And somehow there was another couple
gears. But those gears came out of a painful,
difficult, ugly cancer. And by the way, for others,
the pain is there isn't a recovery. Some of you
have lost children, mates. Some of you have had
your whole incomes out from under you. And all
I want you to know is that what we hang on to,
there really is a sovereign God. He really is
in control. But the invisible faith is, if you
ask Joseph, how was life going from 17 to 29
and a half? Circumstantially, bad. But part of
what God does is God will leverage and use your
pain and take... The comfort that he gives to
you as the comfort that you can share with others,
right? 2 Corinthians 1. And there's some things
that no amount of Bible study, no amount of spiritual
disciplines, you only meet God in the midst of
excruciating pain when the only one that can
deliver is God. And he meets you in ways that
you can't describe. And something happens in
your heart, in your life that makes you more
like Jesus and gives you a capacity that you
would never ever, when you look back, you would
never want to go through it again, but you realize
it's precious. And it's a part of the journey.
And by the way, that's what God is actually seeking
to develop. That Romans 8, 28, we quote it, but
for some reason we just skipped 29. 29 is that
he predestined and called us according to his
purpose to conform us to the image of his son.
How he conforms us, I got news for you, it's
painful. But he leverages the evil and the difficulty
and the pain. But you can get bitter. You can
get self -focused. You can go into pity. You
can somehow unconsciously think that the only
thing there really is in life is this little
window called time. But you're made for eternity.
C .S. Lewis' little illustration for me has been
just a lifesaver in the midst of my worst pain.
He goes, if you could imagine like fishing line
going through that wall, across this room, through
that wall. East to eternity, west to eternity,
that's eternity. And then there's a little dot
about the size of a pencil on that line. And
inside that dot, that's all of time, that little
dot. And inside that dot, if with a powerful
super electronic microscope, there would be this
tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny little dot that
would be your life. And maybe you get 70, maybe
you get 80 years, I don't know. And that little
dot. is just temporal. And God is doing all kind
of things and some of them are very, very, very
painful. But how I respond and what I learn forever
and ever goes on. And when I can have an eternal
perspective for a sovereign God who loves me
and know that those I've lost love Him and I
will be with them. You know what? Most Christians
don't really believe in heaven. It's just a concept.
It's just an idea. Heaven's real. It's a place
and you're not gonna float around on a cloud
and sing in a worship service and sip iced tea
and get wings and ring bells. It's gonna be a
new earth and a new heaven and new relationships
and the people that you love that are in the
Lord and you're gonna have life and culture and
future and work. And it's the line. And I love
Lewis's words. Are you living for the dot or
are you living for the line? And the sovereignty
of God. gives me hope in the midst of the worst
tragedies in the world. It also gives me the
faith to not give up. I just have to think that
Joseph had more than a few days where it was
like, Lord, where's the dream? Where's the promise?
And all the while, this is what God was doing
in Joseph. His character, his character, his
character. See, if God's going to put you over
something like this, he has to do a lot of this.
And the only way you get a lot of this depth
of character is going through the crucible of
life. And God has that plan for all of us. He
wants to make you like Jesus. There's two questions
that this raises. If God is sovereign, why does
he allow evil, pain, and suffering? And I would
say The Problem of Pain by C .S. Lewis is the
shortest, best work on that. There's lots of
writing. You might write down Ken Boa. He's a
friend. He's a brilliant writer, thinker. He
has lots of good information on this. The second
question is, if God is sovereign over all people
and events in history, Doesn't this make a sham
of human responsibility? And Norman Geisler,
one of my former professors, did 10 years as
a philosophy teacher, 10 years as Bible, and
then theology. And Chosen But True, I think,
is the best book that's balanced on the sovereignty
of God and the responsibility of man. It's really
interesting. I was reviewing this and praying
earlier, and I thought to myself, you know, some
of the responses to all of God's attributes,
they start looking a lot alike. I mean, this
sovereign God that every knee will bow, Application
number one, how do you respond? Bow before the
king of the universe. You're going to. Everyone
is. The sooner, the better. And voluntarily is
way better than by compulsion. Surrender all
you are and all that you have. There has to come
a specific day and a point in time. You don't
slide into surrender. It's a decision. And when
you make that decision and mean it, I've watched
Christians who, they basically say, my life has,
I think, changed more than when I was born again.
And all I can tell you is if God is really good
and he's the king of the universe, I mean, the
only other option is you decide you be God and
you use your knowledge and your wisdom and you
shuck and jive and you try to figure out, make
your life work. Good luck. Good luck. The wisest,
most intelligent, most emotionally satisfying
and rewarding life for a follower of Jesus is
to offer. It's in what's called the aorist tense.
It's a point in time. Offer your body as a living
sacrifice. Holy and acceptable. This is your
spiritual service. And what it means is it's
what God really wants. Maybe you were thinking
about it. I'm just going to say maybe you should
think about it a little bit more. The second
application is to believe that all that comes
into your life is either allowed or decreed by
a good God who will use it for your benefit.
And what I mean by this is not intellectually
believe it. I mean, I mean, believe it to the
point where you say, despite how my emotions
are screaming. I'm going to choose to be faithful.
And by the way, for some of you, faithful just
means you just get up and take a step because
the pain and the difficulty and the hurt and
the loss and the grief is so excruciating. God
understands. He's kind. Remember, he's tenderhearted.
He's quick of sympathy. How did Jesus treat people
that were hurting? His arms weren't crossed.
He didn't say, you know, come on, pull up your
bootstraps, get with the program. You should
be serving more. He just, he would just love
you. He just wants to help you. He just wants
to nurture you through this. But believe, believe
to the point of trusting. And here's what I would
say by way of application is absolutely refuse
to worry. That's one of those, you know, I think
someone has written a book, you know, sins that.
Christians, we all give each other a pass on
or something like that. Acceptable sins. You
know, if the Bible says don't be anxious for
anything, and it's a command, I'm guessing that
being anxious is sinful. But, you know, there's
some sins where like, I mean, you know, like
we're all sins, so let's just... It's an insult
to God. If he's a sovereign God and he's good.
Now, is it hard not to worry? You have to practice
Philippians 4, 6, and 7. Don't be anxious for
anything, but in everything, by prayer, a general
word, get your focus up on God, and supplication.
In other words, you're going to ask very specific
things with thanksgiving, choosing to rejoice,
make your specific request. So yes, it's a practice.
And as you heard, and as you're anxious, you
do that. And you know what? You can learn. Oswald
Chambers' big line was really, his whole life
is Galatians 2 .20. I'm crucified with Christ.
Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ lives
within me. And this life that I now live, I live
by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave
himself for me. It was this abiding life that
God is in control. Therefore, I can't project
tomorrow. I refuse to worry of outcomes I can't
control. But I'm going to entrust that to God.
If he's sovereign, you can do that if you believe
it. Third is behold in all the mystery and the
majesty of his kind, compassionate, just, and
sovereign rule over all that is or will ever
be. And the application for some of you, this
is very easy. For some of us high productivity
driven type A people, this is very difficult.
Worship God for who he is, not merely for what
he's done. singing to the Lord, reading Psalms
out loud slowly, believing them. I mean, isn't
it amazing that when you read the Psalms, how
David in the midst of responsibility and warfare
and all the rest, how he praises God, he thanks
God, he laments, but he is a worshiper. And the
more you begin to be in awe of, rather than argue
about sovereignty and responsibility, as we would
be in awe of who God is and worship him. As you
worship him, what happens is you will begin to
believe and experience a God who is bigger. And
when you experience a God who is bigger and holy
and loving, then what happens is the truth that
you have begins to transform and get ingrained
into what you actually believe and your values
and how you actually live. And I just think it's
easy not to be a worshiper. I think it's easy
to be a Christian get stuff done person. And
there's some of you that, you know, my wife is
the opposite. She's a worshiper. Wow. You know,
sometimes I think if I got time with Jesus and
my wife, I think it goes something like this.
Teresa and I have been working out a lot of issues
over the last few decades with you, Chip, and
we appreciate you running all the errands for
us. I'm serious. You know, I'm an activity -aholic.
I mean, I just, I see what could be, and oh,
God wants to do this. And I just feel this compulsion
to say, oh, if this is true, you got to act on
it. So I have to learn to be a worshiper. And
maybe that's some of you. You're listening to
Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. And the
message you just heard, the sovereignty of God,
is from our series, The Real God. Chip will join
us in studio to share some insights from today's
talk in just a minute. You know, we've all unintentionally
projected some of humanity's worst qualities
into our Creator. Many view God as moody, weak,
unfair, impatient, and merciless. But those ideas
couldn't be further from the truth. Through this
series, Chip explores key Bible passages to reveal
seven fundamental characteristics of our Heavenly
Father, attributes that reflect the very essence
of His divine nature. Join Chip on this journey
to reshape your perspective toward God, which
will deepen your relationship with Him like never
before. You won't want to miss a single part
of this study. Well, Chip's joining me here in
studio. And Chip, I think it's safe to say we
all want a better relationship with God and to
really grow spiritually. So take a minute, if
you would, and talk about a habit you've developed
in your personal walk with Jesus that our listeners
can apply to their lives. Well, that's an easy
one, Dave. It really begins and ends with time
in God's Word, actually learning to meet with
God on a daily basis. It's just foundational
for every believer's journey. And it's a practice
that I find are really hard for Christians to
get consistent in. And then they often feel like,
I don't know how to do it. I can't understand
the Bible. And so we've developed something called
Daily Discipleship. And I think that's the great
place to start. It's a free video tool where
I literally mentor and study the Bible with people.
I mean, individually. I talk for about 10 minutes
max, and then I ask them to give me 10 minutes
with a small resource to get in the Bible for
themselves. We look at the very core text of
Romans 12, James 1, Ephesians 6. We'll learn
how to pray. We'll experience time with God,
not just simply read the Bible. Check it out.
Daily Discipleship with Chip. Thanks, Chip. So
if you're looking for a practical way to deepen
your faith, let me encourage you to sign up for
Daily Discipleship with Chip. This free video
resource will help you learn more about God and
His Word. To sign up for any of our Daily Discipleship
series, visit livingontheedge .org. That's livingontheedge
.org. App listeners, tap Discipleship. Well,
with that, here again is Chip to share his application
from today's message. Think on this one thought
as you go throughout the day. Nothing today or
nothing in your past, in fact, nothing in your
future, will ever enter your life that God has
not willfully decreed or allowed to occur. There
isn't haphazard issues floating all around that
are messing up your life. God is in control.
What a comfort of all the things in Scripture
that bring great comfort to my heart. I think
that's one of the most important things with
regard to the character of God that I've learned
in my life. God is sovereign. And what I know
is that regardless of what happens, He is working
and using every event, every person, every hardship,
every difficulty for my good. He does work all
things together for my good. And I don't know
about you, but that produces a deep rest in my
soul. And then it produces worship. Imagine the
power, the majesty, the all -knowing that it
requires to orchestrate every life on the planet
to fulfill His purposes and our good. Why don't
you worship Him today? thanks for that great
challenge chip as we wrap up i want to thank
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