Again, you have failed to define what sovereign involvement of God entails?
I thought I said it pretty well. All things, from rocks to the fibers of my brain, were created by, for, and have their being in God Everything in God and God in everything.
That’s thorough involvement by God. Since God is not constrained by anything other than His decrees that things exist and happen – it is obvious that He is sovereign in them.
Does it mean that God is merely allowing events to happen?
In the case of the choices of men whether they be good or evil, I use the term “allow” myself so no one can say that I believe God to run us like robots or that He is the author of sin.
But God given free will choices obviously mean more than what most people mean when they say “allow” to happen. The same is true for so called natural events.
I’m sure that natural laws are allowed to play out in physical events just as they do in the choices of men. But it is obvious that, since God “fills heaven and earth”, "allowing" things to happen doesn’t really fill the bill when it comes to laying out God’s involvement as it relates to His creation.
Does it mean that God is directing every sin we commit down to what thoughts he causes to enter our minds, and in fact every motion of our bodies?
In some cases yes at least with the thoughts He causes to enter our minds.. The scriptures are filled with examples. The evil thoughts and resultant deeds of Pharaoh and the prophecy from God delivered in the evil comment by Caiaphas come to mind.
As for every thought and motion - I wouldn’t know. I only know what has been given to me.
But if God is omnipresent “in His entirety and without division” as the theologians say – and that includes your muscles, bones and the synapses and chemicals of your brain - good luck doing anything independently of God’s sovereignty.
Wouldn't that mean that every act of child abuse was actually carried out by God himself?
That seems to be the $64,000 question doesn’t it. At least it’s like the ones asked every time the sovereignty of God in sin comes up.
Of course we only have the examples given to us in scripture to draw on - ranging from the original temptation of man, to the evil done Job, to the selling of Joseph, to the crucifixion of Christ, through the activities of anti-Christ and those of Satan at the end of the Millennium.
They are all examples of the sovereignty of God in the evil existing and functioning in His creation. In every case – there is ultimately good that comes of the evil done – even if it isn’t spelled out completely for us.
I, for one, am willing to give God the benefit of the doubt (read have faith in) in the case of the tower than fell on men in Siloam and the blood mixed with the sacrifices to God – on through the Holocaust and even the death of my mother.
The scriptures have given me enough explanation of the sovereignty of God in evil things working for good in the end that I can trust Him though He slay me, as Job would say.
There are others who find it difficult accepting these things without a 100% explanation. As a result they either ignore the fact that God is involved in evil in any way or they use the term “allow” in such a way that it leaves the impression that God just sort of winds things up in creation and then sits back and watches what will happen. Nothing could be farther from what the scriptures spell out for us.
Can I explain it all? No. But then it’s His Word – not mine and I teach the whole council of God.