WHO’S THE BOSS?
Daniel 4:34-35

James Boice writes:
We do not have a strong church today nor do we have many strong Christians. We can trace the cause to an acute lack of sound spiritual knowledge. Why is the Church weak? Why are individual Christians weak? It is because they have forgotten what God is like and what He promises to do for those who trust Him.
For an average Christian, God is a god who would like to save the world but who cannot. He would like to restrain evil, but somehow he finds it beyond his power. So he has withdrawn into semi-retirement, being willing to give good advice in a grandfatherly sort of way, but for the most part he has left his children to fend themselves in a dangerous environment.

Isn’t it true, more often than not, that the God you picture in your mind is old, has a long beard – and maybe leans on a cane? Isn’t it true? He wears a robe, has big toes, sandals. He’s not too sure about modern things like cell phones, advanced nuclear physics, laser beams, and electronic computers.
God isn’t old. He is eternal. He isn’t intimidated; He is All-powerful. He knows all things. He is SOVEREIGN!
Daniel 4 is one of the clearest declarations of the sovereignty of God found in the Scriptures.
When Nebuchadnezzar saw God in all His glory and sovereignty, his whole perspective changed. His sanity and kingdom were restored.
“After this time had passed, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven. My sanity returned, and I praised and worshipped the Most High and honored the one who lives forever.
His rule is everlasting, and his kingdom is eternal. All the people of the earth are nothing compared to him. He has the power to do as he pleases among the angels of heaven and with those who live on earth. No one can stop him or challenge him, saying, ‘What do you mean by doing these things?’” DANIEL 4:34-35.

GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY MEANS GOD’S EXERCISE OF POWER OVER HIS CREATION.

I. GOD’S RULE IS EVERLASTING.
“...His dominion is an eternal dominion; His kingdom endures from generation to generation” (v. 34).
God does not become God by way of election. We do not elect Him. He will not relinquish His position. You cannot impeach Him and He will not resign. He has no predecessor and He will have no successor. There was no one before Him and there’ll be no one after Him
“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all” 1 Chronicles 29:11-12.
God is the Ruler of all things. Jeremiah asks, “Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it?” Lamentations 3:37.
No one can act outside of God’s sovereign will or against it. Centuries ago, Augustine said, “Nothing, therefore, happens unless the Omnipotent wills it to happen; He either permits it to happen, or He brings it about Himself.”
Nothing is too large or too small to escape God’s governing hand.

II. GOD IS IN CONTROL
“All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth” (v. 35).
In Rabbi Kushner’s book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, Kushner asks, “Can you accept the idea that some things happen for no reason, that there is randomness in the universe?” Speaking of the direction a forest fire takes, he asks, “But is there a sensible explanation for why wind and weather combine to direct a forest fire on a given day toward certain homes rather than others, trapping some people inside and sparing others? Or is it just a matter of pure luck?”
God is in control. Nothing happens by chance or pure luck. If there is a single event in all of the universe that can occur outside of God’s sovereign control then we cannot trust Him.
In his well-known statement about sparrows, Jesus said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of the Father.....So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” Matthew 10: 29-31.
According to Jesus, God does exercise His sovereignty in very minute events – even the life and death of an almost worthless sparrow.
If God controls the circumstances that affect the sparrows, how much more does He control the circumstances that affect us? God does not walk away and leave us to the mercy of uncontrolled random or chance events.
That God is, indeed, both good and powerful is one of the basic tenets (doctrine) of Christian belief. We admit that we are often unable to reconcile God’s sovereignty and goodness in the face of widespread tragedy or personal adversity, but we believe that, although we often do not understand God’s ways, He is sovereignly at work in all of our circumstances.
All people – believers as well as unbelievers – experience anxiety, frustration, heartache and disappointment. Some suffer intense physical pain and catastrophic tragedies. But that which should distinguish the suffering of believers from unbelievers is the confidence that our suffering is under the control of an All-Powerful and All-Loving God; our suffering has meaning and purpose in God’s eternal plan, and He brings or allows to come into our lives only that which is for His glory and our good.
God is in control. God never permits people to act contrary to His sovereign will.
Consider the following passages of the Scripture:

“In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps” Proverbs 16:9.

“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails” Proverbs 19:21.

“There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord” Proverbs 21:30.

“Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it?” Lamentations 3:37.

“You ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that’” James 4:15.

“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open” Revelation 3:7.
We make plans, but those plans can succeed only when they are consistent with God’s purpose. No plan can succeed against Him. No emperor, king, supervisor, teacher, or coach can speak and make it happen if the Lord has not decreed to either make it happen or permit it to happen. No one can say, “I will do this or that,” and have it happen if it is not part of God’s sovereign will.
Margaret Clarkson wrote, “The sovereignty of God is the one impregnable (secure, indestructible) rock to which the suffering human heart must cling. The circumstances surrounding our lives are no accident. They may be the work of evil, but that evil is held firmly within the mighty hand of our sovereign God....All evil is subject to Him, and evil cannot touch His children unless He permits it. God is the Lord of human history and of the personal history of every member of His redeemed family.”
Nothing is so small or trivial as to escape the attention of God’s sovereign control; nothing is so great as to be beyond His power to control it.
But many times we question God’s sovereignty – especially during times of difficulty. When everything is all right, God is good. When we get sick – God is bad. When we have money – God is good. When we don’t have money – God is bad. When we’re happy – God is good. When we’re sad – God is bad.
And we can’t help but ask WHY??? WHY ME???
God is in absolute control. There are many things that we don’t understand. But it’s not our business to understand; our business is to trust. God is in control. He is in charge!
No detail in your life is too insignificant for your Heavenly Father’s attention; no circumstance is so big that He cannot control it.
“All things work together for good to them that love God and who are called according to His purpose” Romans 8:28.






























III. GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY IS NOT ALWAYS APPARENT (clear, obvious)
“A Christian husband flew in a private plane to another city to give his testimony at an evangelistic meeting, taking his son with him. On the way home they ran into an electrical storm that caused the plane to crash. Both the father and son were killed.”
Where was God during this time?
If God is in control, why did He allow this to happen?
One of our problems with the sovereignty of God is that it frequently does not appear that God is in control of the circumstances of our lives. Many times it appears that God doesn’t care. Or busy with other things.
But to believe in the sovereignty of God when we do not see His direct intervention – when God is, so to speak, working entirely behind the scenes through ordinary circumstances and ordinary actions of people – is even more important, because that is the way God usually works.
As the song says, “When you can’t see His hand, trust His heart.”
Does God always orchestrate the events of our lives to fulfill His purposes?
According to Romans 8:28, the answer is a solid YES!
“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” 1 Thessalonians 5:18.

IV. GOD DOES AS HE PLEASES
God does as He pleases, only as he pleases, and no one can frustrate His plans or hinder His purposes.
“I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted” Job 42:2.
“Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him” Psalm 115:3.
“I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please” Isaiah 46:10.
“All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?’”
No plan of God can be thwarted; when He acts, no one can reverse it; no one can hold back His hand or bring Him to account for His actions. God does as He pleases, only as He pleases, and works out every event to bring about the accomplishment of His will.
But God is also infinite in love. He exercises His sovereignty for His glory and for the good of His people.
God has a purpose and plan for you, and God has the power to carry out that plan.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” Jeremiah 29:11.
Although these words were directed to the nation of Judah in its captivity, they express a principle about God. God has a plan for you. Because He has a plan for you, and no one can thwart that plan, you can trust God.
We make plans but are often forced to change those plans. But there are no contingencies with God. Our unexpected, forced change of plans is a part of His plan. God is never surprised; caught off guard; never frustrated by unexpected developments. God does as He pleases and that which pleases Him is always for His glory and for our good.
Our lives are also cluttered with a lot of “if onlys.”
“If only I had this,” or “If only that had not happened.” But again, God has no “if onlys.” God never makes a mistake; God has no regrets.
“As for God, his way is perfect” Psalm 18:30.

Is God sovereign only in the “good” circumstances of our lives? Is He not also sovereign in the difficult times, the times when our hearts ache with pain?
The Bible teaches us that God is sovereign over both the “good” and the “bad.” Consider the following:
“When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other....” Ecclesiastes 7:14.
“I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things” Isaiah 45:7.
“Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?” Lamentations 3:38.
These three passages clearly state what is taught in principle throughout the rest of the Bible. God controls both the good and the bad.
In the earlier story (the death of the father and the son in a plane crash) a Christian friend, in an effort to comfort the bereaved wife and mother said, “One thing you can be sure of: God had no part in the accident.” According to this friend, God was apparently looking the other way when the pilot got into trouble.
God has not looked the other way or been caught by surprise when adversity strikes us. He is in control of that adversity, directing it to His glory and our good.
Trusting in God does not mean we do not suffer grief or go through pain, that our heart does not ache. It means that in the midst of pain, heartache, and grief we can say to the effect of, “Lord, I know You are in control. I don’t know and I can’t understand why You have allowed this to happen but I trust You. Help me glorify You in this.”
We honor God by choosing to trust Him when we don’t understand what He is doing or why He has allowed some adverse circumstance to occur. As we seek God’s glory, we may be sure that He has purposed our good and He will not be frustrated in fulfilling that purpose.
“God is too kind to do anything cruel, too wise to make a mistake, too deep to explain Himself.” – Charles Swindoll
As the song says:
“God is too wise to be
mistaken,
God is too good to be unkind
So when you don’t
understand
When you can’t see His plan
When you can’t trace His
hands
Trust His heart.”