Is God in charge of everything that happens?

[Luke631]

I was really traumatized by the Las Vegas shooting in 2017. I still am. I just wonder, is God responsible for the shooting, if he controls everything? Or was it some sick individual that God had no control over?

 

[YesMe]

Everything that it's evil comes from Satan also known as Lucifer.

God is the absolute, the uncreated, outside time, outside space, outside creation itself and yet holding the entire creation, the infinite, the limtless, He holds all the wisdom, all the power, all the knowledge, He is the maker of all things, how can people say that there is evil in God? Do you think an absolute and infinite being can make mistakes? He is the very defintion of perfection, he is the very definition of love, he is the very definition of light, he is all good in every single way.

Don't go further with these things, I've done that myself, it will consume your energy and you will not find the answer, trust His Word!

 

[ICONO'CLAST]

God is in control of whatsoever comes to pass.
Nothing surprises God.
The cross and the work of those evil persons was ordained by God, Acts 2:23

 

[com7fy8]

God is always working for His good to come out in the end and even now.

But evil is a reality. But if God was not in control, it would be much worse.

You can read and feed on how Joseph was sold by his own brothers into slavery, but then God used that to help save many people's lives > Genesis 37-50.

It is wise not to let evil people decide what you conclude about God.

"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21)

 

[section9+1]

Isaiah 45:7
I wouldn't say God deliberately set about to enact the shootings. But this is the world at work. The world he created and is in the process of destroying. Destruction and redemption. All this is the raw material for that work. So evil happens and God incorporates it all into his purpose.

 

[crossnote]

I was really traumatized by the Las Vegas shooting in 2017. I still am. I just wonder, is God responsible for the shooting, if he controls everything? Or was it some sick individual that God had no control over?

Many mistake God's long suffering and delay as absentee fairness of dealing with evil, but...

But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, (2Pe 3:8-11)

...judgment will fall and it will be decisive and final.

 

[Eloy Craft]

I like what ICONO' CLAST said. What happened at the cross was great evil. Also the greatest human love the Father had ever received. What happens when natural disasters happen? Greater love is given and received by neighbors. People show their love for one another. I'll bet at that shooting the love that was shown was greater than the evil.

 

[St_Worm2]

I was really traumatized by the Las Vegas shooting in 2017. I still am. I just wonder, is God responsible for the shooting, if he controls everything? Or was it some sick individual that God had no control over?

Hi Luke631, I see that you are pretty new around here, so first off, WELCOME TO CF

So, did God know that the Las Vegas shooting was going to happen? Yes, God is sovereign.

Did He compel/coerce/force the shooter (I will not use his name) to sin (by injuring and murdering all those people)? No, the Lord does not tempt people to sin, much less does He "cause" them to sin/cause moral evil.

James 1
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.
14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.​

Rather, God makes sure that we are not given more than we are able to handle (when we are tempted), and He also provides us with a way of escape from each one of our temptations so that we can choose to avoid falling into sin if we want to .. e.g. 1 Corinthians 10:13.

Why God decided to give us free will is a matter of conjecture, but here's what we know. We know Him, we know His character, and perhaps most importantly, we know that He is love, and that He loves us , so much so, in fact, that He willingly sent His Son here to both live and then die on a cross to save us (a people who did not deserve to be saved). Then He chose to adopt us (His former "enemies" .. e.g. Romans 5:10) as members of His own family.

Why God gave us free will and chooses (therefore) to allow HORRIBLE things to happen in this world at times we cannot know for sure! However, what we do know about Him is more than enough for us to trust Him and the great promises that He made to us (like the promise of His .. that I believe someone has already mentioned in this thread .. that we find in Romans 8:28).

--David

Romans 5
8 God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.​

 

[andy b]

Looking at my life I'd say no

 

[St_Worm2]

Looking at my life I'd say no

So the lunatics are in control of the asylum then

 

[andy b]

So the lunatics are in control of the asylum then

Brother it's a joke ....... everything happens for a reason ....what's the odds that me and you would communicate on a planet spinning through space .......the lord has a purpose

 

[Yennora]

Simple and short answer: No.

God is good. Right?

Hence, your question can be formulated as "Is good in charge of everything that happens?". Now, that's a clearer question with a clear answer: No, that is impossible.

 

[Sound Doctrine]

Revelation 19:6 - "And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth."

Romans 8:28 - "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

 

[St_Worm2]

Brother it's a joke ....... everything happens for a reason ....what's the odds that me and you would communicate on a planet spinning through space .......the lord has a purpose

I know brother. My reply to you was basically tongue in cheek as well. It's hard at times to express ourselves properly around here with only emoji to go on

--David

 

[hedrick]

A straightforward reading of the OT says that God doesn't control everything. He waits for what we do and sometimes changes his mind. He can bring good out of evil. There are plenty of things he's responsible for. I believe the world is going where he says it is. But I don't think he controls every event.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

I was really traumatized by the Las Vegas shooting in 2017. I still am. I just wonder, is God responsible for the shooting, if he controls everything? Or was it some sick individual that God had no control over?

Jesus gave a parable about a land owner who placed his estate into the hands of servants and then went away on a long journey. What Jesus was saying here is that God created mankind to be in charge of the world and to run it according to His instructions. But He was not going to be always looking over their shoulders to ensure they were doing it the right way. This is shown in the land-owner going away on a long journey.

But the servants didn't follow his instructions and when then land-owner sent messengers to receive his share of the profits, the servants beat up and killed the messengers. This is what mankind is doing in the world, and this is why we have so much evil around us.

Then the land-own decided to send his own son in the hope that the servants will respect him, but the servants killed his son. This speaks of God sending Jesus into the world to show the nature and character of God and to announce the kingdom of God and to encourage people repent of their ways. But Jesus was crucified instead.

The parable goes on to say that the land-owner will come back and bring those servants to account for what they have done and how they have managed the estate. This means that there will come the day when Jesus Christ will return and bring every person to account for how they conducted themselves, and will punish those who reject Christ to an eternity in hell.

This is why there is evil in the world, but there is the gospel of Christ, which if people will believe it, it will make a difference in their lives.

So what if there is evil in the world? It is appointed unto men once to die and afterwards comes the judgment. Actually, no one is going anywhere. No one will escape the judgment to come. We will all be there - some who have had their sinfulness washed away by the blood of Christ, and those who will be there in their sins and guilt.

This is why, for Christian believers, we will have tribulation in this world, but tribulation works patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope makes us not ashamed before God.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

A straightforward reading of the OT says that God doesn't control everything. He waits for what we do and sometimes changes his mind. He can bring good out of evil. There are plenty of things he's responsible for. I believe the world is going where he says it is. But I don't think he controls every event.

Most churches don't like teaching about the judgment. This is because of the "positive thinking" deception that has invaded the churches. This deception induces people to think that any negative thought isn't "spiritual" and would hinder faith. This includes teaching about judgment and hell.

But judgment and hell are realities and this is the future of all those who reject Christ and do evil in the world. God is not a micro-manager. He holds back and allows people to go their own way, knowing that the day will come when they will have answer for their evil deeds.

The day of judgment is very real, and every day we live, we are getting closer to it.

 

[St_Worm2]

A straightforward reading of the OT says that God doesn't control everything. He waits for what we do and sometimes changes his mind. He can bring good out of evil. There are plenty of things he's responsible for. I believe the world is going where he says it is. But I don't think he controls every event.

Hi Hedrick, have you ever watched the movie, Mouse Hunt

If you haven't, it's a VERY humorous look at what can happen to our plans when things occur that are outside of our control

Likewise, if God is not sovereign over all (even over the tiniest and most insignificant of things in the universe), and He does not ordain (cause or allow to happen) whatsoever comes to pass in this world, how can He guarantee (or we possibly believe) that the world is going to go where He says it is? Maybe it will , but if there are factors that are outside of God's purview/control, who knows, maybe it won't

--David
p.s. - question, when an OT passage like this one is read in a "straightforward" way, what conclusion do you reach about God's sovereignty in this world? Thanks.

Isaiah 46
9 I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like Me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘My purpose will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’​

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Hi Hedrick, have you ever watched the movie, Mouse Hunt

If you haven't, it's a VERY humorous look at what can happen to our plans when things occur that are outside of our control

Likewise, if God is not sovereign over all (even over the tiniest and most insignificant of things in the universe), and He does not ordain (cause or allow to happen) whatsoever comes to pass in this world, how can He guarantee (or we possibly believe) that the world is going to go where He says it is? Maybe it will , but if there are factors that are outside of God's purview/control, who knows, maybe it won't

--David
p.s. - question, when an OT passage like this one is read in a "straightforward" way, what conclusion do you reach about God's sovereignty in this world? Thanks.

Isaiah 46
9 I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like Me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘My purpose will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’​

The reality is that God has left this world completely in our hands to with it exactly the way we choose. (I use "our" and "we" in the collective mankind sense. For Him to do anything different it means that He has to take man's free choice away thereby undermining His effective judgment when it comes, because there would be diminished responsibility if man did not have free choice.

However, because Jesus came into the world, announced the kingdom of God and then died on the cross for those who choose to believe in Him, there is the way for believers to avoid the judgment that will come on all the world.

There will come the time when God will say, "Enough", in the same way He said it when the world was totally covered in violence before the Flood. He let those people go as far as they would, but they chose violence instead, so He wiped them all out, except for Noah and his family, with the Flood. This is significant because Jesus said that it will be same for our world as in the days of Noah. People will be living their lives, giving and receiving in marriage, going to work and coming home again, and then suddenly, God will say, "Time's up!" and the Day of Judgment will arrive.

It will be on that Day when God will bring every person who chose evil rather than Christ before Him and will pass judgment on them. Because there will be billions of people who will have to give an account of their lives, this may take tens of thousands of years to complete. But no one will be going anywhere, will they?

It may take all this time, because judgment will have to be made on conclusive evidence and witnesses. As Christians, it will be like us sitting in the public gallery of the courtroom seeing each court case come up one after another. We saw a glimpse of this in the Nuremberg trials after the Second World War when the Nazi leaders were arraigned and verdicts were passed by the judges.

This is why it is important that we judge ourselves as hopeless sinners deserving of being defendants in the judgment, being found guilty and suffering the eternal penalty in the lake of fire. Once having done that, receiving Jesus as our Saviour and Lord receives the verdict of "not guilty" from the Judge. This verdict is possible because Jesus took the penalty of the sin of those who believe and put their trust in Him.

To many people profess Christian faith without judging themselves as sinner deserving of Judgment and hell, and therefore take the "easy believer" route, and may not be truly born again of the Spirit of God. They may receive the spirit of religion instead. It would be a great tragedy for those who spend their whole lives in religious activities, get all the way there and find themselves a defendant in the judgment instead of a true believer in the public gallery!

 

[eleos1954]

I was really traumatized by the Las Vegas shooting in 2017. I still am. I just wonder, is God responsible for the shooting, if he controls everything? Or was it some sick individual that God had no control over?

The awful things in the world that go on shows just how devastating sin is. He WILL end the sin problem until then walk in His ways.

2 Peter 3

The Day of the Lord
(Zephaniah 1:7-18; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11)

8Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.

10But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.

11Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to conduct yourselves in holiness and godliness 12as you anticipate and hasten the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt in the heat. 13But in keeping with God’s promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

Even so, come Lord Jesus