There may be nothing more difficult to reconcile as a Christian than the fact that God is in complete control - He is sovereign.

 

Unfortunately, at times doubt creeps in, and it can feel like you’re holding on by just a thread of faith. There’s probably no one who understood this more than Job. He was stripped of all his belongings, rebuked by his wife and closest friends.

 

But even through these hard times, he never fully ventured from what he said at the beginning of his book: "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised" (Job 1:21). Job understood that God can do what God wants. It doesn’t always make sense, does it? The suffering of a family member or the way you’ve been back-stabbed by a friend or client.

 

And yet, when you don’t just understand this truth, but believe in God’s control by faith, you will be able to move past the valley knowing that He has the final say. The late Anglican priest J.C Ryle put it best, he said, "nothing will make us submit to God but the humbling teaching of the Holy Ghost." Ultimately, it’s God who makes it possible for you to trust that He can do as He pleases.