Why the Bible will not allow me to say, "God simply allows..."

The God of the Old Testament (and the New Testament for that matter) is a God with absolute power and sovereign sway over all things. “The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the people” (Psalm 33:10). “He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses” (Psalm 135:7). He shuts the mouths of lions to preserve the righteous (Dan. 6:22) and unleashes lions to judge the wicked (2 Kings 17:25). He hardens hearts (Exodus 14:17; Joshua 11:20).

God cannot sin. He is not the author or actor of evil. But we mustn’t say he simply allows for certain events to take place, even events full of sin and suffering, as if God had nothing to do with the cross (Acts 4:27-30) and has nothing to do with most of what transpires in our world. The sovereign will of God is more all-encompassing that we might imagine.

• ”God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem” (Judges 9:23).
• ”Now the Spirit of the Lord has departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him” (1 Samuel 16:14).
• ”I am the Lord and there is no other. I form the light and create disaster; I bring prosperity and create disaster; I the Lord do all these things” (Isaiah 45:6-7).
• ”When disaster comes to a city has not the Lord caused it” (Amos 3:6).

Even death is in the Lord’s hands.

• ”The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up” (1 Samuel 2:6).
• ”There is no other god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life. I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand” (Deuteronomy 32:39).

From the big pictures to the tiniest details, the Old Testament teaches that God guides all our steps.

• ”The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord” (Prov. 16:33).
• ”A man’s steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand his own way?” (Prov. 20:24).
• ”I know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his step” (Jeremiah 10:23).
• ”All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:16).

Our God, Daniel says, “does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth” (Dan. 4:35). And in Isaiah the Lord declares: “I am God, and there is no other; I am God ant there is none like me. 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” (Isa. 46:9-10). God is God because he has the power to do what he wants, the wisdom to carry it out, and the sovereign authority to immutably appoint whatsoever shall come to pass.