The LORD works out everything for his own ends -- even the wicked for a day of disaster (Proverbs 16:4).

It is good to trust the sovereignty of God.  It means so much to be able to say that the LORD works out everything for his own ends -- even though we can't always see it.  In the short term, from our painfully finite perspective, it can seem like chaos has the upper hand.  It often feels like entropy -- a continual movement towards disorder -- is the guiding principle of the universe.  But ultimately, I believe what the Bible says about God:  that He is the Creator, Sustainer, Maintainer, Conductor, and Care-Giver for everything.  He is the guiding principle of the universe, and nothing happens without his awareness.  In the long-term, big-picture, infinite perspective of the LORD, everything is being worked out for his own ends:  in His time and according to His plan.

But what about all of the profound suffering and evil in the world today?  How can a good, loving, all-powerful God allow such horrible things to happen:  famine, disease, war, genocide, death?

One of these existential questions that has been most difficult for me, for some time now, is the question about the eternal destiny of a person who lives his entire life in the African Bush.  What if such a person never has a chance to even be exposed to the Gospel message?  what if this person lives his entire life in a society which is so remote that he never even has the opportunity to hear the name of Jesus?  Would God really condemn such a person to an eternity in hell -- just because he happened to be born into a part of the world in which they'd never get word of the fact that "Salvation is found in no one else [other than Jesus], for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12)?  This question has harrassed me for a long time.

In the end, though, I have to bring myself back to this point.  Is God a just God?  Is His character such that He likes to pick on the little guy, kick him while he's down, and generally bully people around -- or is His character such that He defends the defenseless, gives honor to the dishonorable, and loves the unlovable?  Then, if we can really establish that God is good and just (which I feel can be very firmly established through the Bible and through my own personal experiences), we have to follow up by asking ourselves:  Is God really sovereign?  Proverbs 16:4 would certainly seem to suggest that He is all of these things:  good, just, and sovereign.  And even though it may seem like wickedness is having its way at any given point along the way, we can trust that even wickedness will be worked out according to God's purposes.  One day it will be brought to its own day of disaster.  Because the LORD works out everything for his own ends.  Everything.  Even when it's beyond our limited perspective, we can trust that God is in control.