The fact nothing happens in God’s world apart from His will does indeed stabilize this saint. The thought of God’s complete sovereignty should do that for every follower of Christ. The alternative is that He’s NOT in control and has left things up to us. I realize on our end it’s hard to square God’s sovereignty with our own free will to make decisions. It’s also hard to see/hear that God hardens people’s hearts so they intentionally choose to do evil. In our finite minds, a good God would stop evil in every situation. Yet, that’s not what He does. The story of history since God created man is that He allows evil to exist, gives us over to our depraved nature, and seeks all glory for Himself as He accomplishes His purpose through flawed people.
So, what do we do with this reality? Do we claim He doesn’t exist and/or attack His character? Do we accept He is God and we are not? Do we worship Him as the Sovereign God He has proved Himself to be? Are we too busy thinking about how we would do things differently? Since He has done things we can’t accept, have we now decided He has disqualified Himself in running for God in our minds? As Voddie Baucham loves to say, “God’s not running for God; He is God!” The real question is what do we think we’re doing running for God? Please also consider that if God did not spare Jesus from suffering on the cross for the sins of the world, what makes us think we are so special that we should avoid suffering in this world? Was God any less sovereign in THAT moment? If anything, Jesus’ death on the cross and subsequent resurrection (which can’t be separated) should prove God’s sovereignty beyond a doubt. He is sovereign over death itself! That’s the real moment which stabilized the saints!
When we think of the victory over death which Jesus secured for us, there’s no good reason not to have stability. If we find ourselves thinking in an unstable way, perhaps it’s because we don’t truly understand what Jesus has done for us. Or maybe we are just preoccupied with adding to what He has done, working out our salvation based on our own merit, and acting as lord of our lives. These things don’t fit with a follower of Christ, but rather describe someone who is trying to fight Christ for first position. When we wrestle with God, let’s not be surprised when our hips get put out and we become unstable (Jacob, Genesis 32 reference). Although that’s unwise, those are also the moments when we see God’s goodness the most clearly, because we recognize He could have chosen to destroy us, but instead allows us to rely on Him and the blessing which comes in walking this way. It’s interesting how this ends up being the MOST stabilizing way. It’s not how we would have drawn things up, but it is how God did. God’s sovereignty is really something huh?