Sovereignty + Goodness = Hope

Dannah Gresh: So earlier this week here in the United States, we had an election. Now, this is not a live program. I’m recording this prior to the election. So right now, you as a listener actually know more about what’s going on than I do . . .  or did when I recorded this. Uh, this could get confusing, fast!

Welcome to Revive Our Hearts Weekend. I’m your host, Dannah Gresh. 

Here’s something I do know. Regardless of who’s going to be our President this coming January, I know for a fact that God . . . is . . . still . . . in . . . control.

He was actually the one who allowed for our next president to be in office. Listen to this from Daniel chapter 2:

"Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
   to whom belong wisdom and might.
He changes times and seasons;
   he removes kings [or presidents] and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
   and knowledge to those who have understanding." (vv. 20–21 emphasis added)

It’s pretty clear, isn’t it? God’s in charge.

Theologians have a word for that: sovereign. God is sovereign. He rules over everything. 

Maybe your temptation to despair has nothing to do with the political landscape. Maybe you’re going through something difficult right now.

Well, today we’re going to hear from a mom who had to trust in our sovereign God when she found out that the baby she was carrying had some serious physical issues. And Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth will help us see an important lesson one character in the Bible learned about God’s sovereignty.

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But let me talk just for a moment to anyone whose dreams have been crushed, for whatever reason.

This is not the end.

It may feel like it. The grief may come in waves so deep that you can't catch your breath at times. Breathe. Breathe. This is not the end.

That fractured pelvis that robbed you of your athletic dreams is not the end. Those so-called friends who betrayed you and have left you lonely are not the end. The rejection letter isn't the end. The divorce is not the end. The funeral was not the end.

Not for God's child. There’s hope, and you need it. So, let's spend a few minutes together filling your heart with something more powerful than that hopelessness.

Sometimes it feels like—looks like—the end. I know. I've been there. Not so very long ago. But then I re-discovered the beauty of a queen named Esther. You see, I was writing a Bible study on this book of the Bible for tween girls. I was reminded of something. Esther was the most gorgeous girl in the land and the king chose her as his bride. Her wedding makes the recent celebrity wedding of Millie Bobby Brown and Jake's look like a pauper's feast. (Don't believe me? The guests drank out of goblets made of pure gold!) It all looked so picture perfect, but then . . .

It looked so very much like the end . . . literally!

Genocide.

All of her people were soon to be annihilated at the hands of an antiSemite named Haman. Everyone she loved would be gone—every last Jew.

She could have looked with eyes that saw hopelessness, but Esther was God's girl. And God's girls (and guys) rise up when it looks like—feels like— the end. They tune their ears to God and ask the One who works all things together for good what to do. Then, they obey, because they know God—not an evil political leader like Haman or a decree that’s ungodly—God gets the first and last word in everything! Everything!

There's just one thing: you can't care what anyone else thinks. Esther was prepared to obey God at any cost. "If I perish, I perish!" That's what she said. She was going to do what God wanted her to do even if it meant her life.

Relax.

It's probably not going to cost you your life to rise back up out of your pain. But there may be something that has to be risked— your dreams, your reputation, your future career, your friends, your social life.

Look to God, dear child of God. Do what He says. This is not the end.

Esther did what her Uncle Mordecai—a godly man— advised, risking it all—her crown, her future, her life. What she had to do is different from what you need to do right now, but the same God still speaks through godly people, His written Word (something Esther didn’t have), and circumstances. He'll advise you. He's done that for me. Through the pain, His voice is like a megaphone if you just lean in to listen through the chaos.

Here's what I want you to know. Through Esther’s obedience, God saved all His people, not just Esther. It was not the end.

What she did—nearly 400 years before Christ was born—is the stuff our hearts must be made of. In the very month that was supposed to be the genocide date of her people, she declared a feast. Because God's children celebrate sovereign deliverance, the feast is still celebrated today. It’s called Purim, and faithful Jews still munch on a triangular-shaped cookie filled with poppy seed called hamantashen.

Ah, that thrills me. And here’s something interesting. Almost 2000 years later, Esther-eyes that could see hope when it looked like the end, and knew to feast on God's deliverance, gave one man courage when it looked like the end. It was during the reign of Hitler, whose plan was so very much like Haman's. The Führer was giving a speech stating that it was the end for the Jewish people. One of God's guys was sitting in the front row making incredulous faces, knowing emphatically that it was not the end.

When Hitler sought this man out after his speech to find out why he was making faces, it is said that the Jewish gentleman explained himself this way:

You should be aware that you are not the first antiSemite who sought to destroy us. You may recall that the great Pharaoh of Egypt sought to enslave the Jews. To commemorate his defeat and our redemption, we eat tasty Mazot and observe the festival of Passover. Haman was another enemy of ours who brought about his own downfall. The delicious Hamantashen we eat and the jolly festival of Purim recalls our deliverance from him. While listening to your venomous diatribe, I wondered what kind of delicacy would the Jews invent and what kind of holiday would be established to celebrate your downfall. (Mitchell Goodman, The End of It, 1980, p. 384, 385.)

My friend. This is not the end. Rise up, child of God. Look with eyes that don't see a destruction, but a feast in the future.

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I’m Dannah Gresh, and this is Revive Our Hearts Weekend. We’re reminding ourselves of the comfort we find in God’s sovereignty. His absolute control. 

Now, let’s hear from that mom who needed to trust in the goodness and strength of God with her own baby.

Erin Davis is a name that’s familiar to our regular listeners. She serves at Moody Publishing now. Before that, she was on staff with Revive Our Hearts. And before that, she would travel and speak to girls and their moms for our organization, True Girl.

Erin’s the mom of four boys. Some of them are teenagers now. But not too long ago, she sat down with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth to tell her about learning to trust God during her first pregnancy. 

She was about to leave home, traveling with True Girl, when her doctor contacted her.

Erin Davis: The doctor called as I was packing the car and said, “There’s a problem with the baby.”

This will give you insight into my pre-kid mindset: I said, “Well, I’m going on a trip, so it’s going to have to wait.”

And she very calmly said, “It can’t wait.”

The issue was that his bladder was blocked, which might sound minor, but in the womb, they process amniotic fluid through their bladder and their lungs, and that’s how their lungs develop. So the fact that those processes weren’t working was a serious issue.

So we had this long weekend where we had to wait to see a specialist. And what I remember about that weekend is that it was hard, but we weren’t undone. That passage about being pressed but not crushed, that’s how it felt. We had this bad news. We had this question mark over our lives. But somehow we had peace that doesn’t make sense.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: So you and Jason were together processing this.

Erin: Jason and I were together. I called our friend Dannah and said, “I have an appointment with the doctor on Monday. I’m going to have to catch up with the team later.” Which I did, but I don’t know if I grasped the gravity of the situation, but I also think I trusted God in the moment.

So we see the specialist. I’m on the table with my shirt up, getting an ultrasound. And the ultrasound tech is beside me. I’m confident he was a believer because the doctor burst in the door, clipboard in hand, and says, “Your baby’s bladder is blocked. He’s not going to survive the pregnancy. If he survives, he’ll be very deformed. My advice to you is that you abort the baby today.” Just like that. That clinical. That fast.

Nancy: Wow.

Erin: And that man who had done my ultrasound put his hand on my stomach, and I know he was praying for me. And my husband Jason, who always rides the white horse and always comes to the rescue, said, “Well, we’re not going to do that, so you can tell us our other options.”

We made it through that pregnancy. Indeed, his bladder was blocked. We delivered him with a specialist in another city. His name was actually going to be Truett. And one day Jason said to me, “I’ve changed his name.”

And I said, “The baby who’s in my belly, you changed his name?”

And he said, “Yes. I’ve changed it to Elisha because it means God is my salvation.”

And I tend to be a little bit fatalistic, and I said, “He might not save him.”

And Jason said, “That’s okay. He still saves.”

And so we had Elisha, and we had this dramatic delivery. There was a team scrubbed up, gloves on, masks on, ready to take our newborn baby to surgery. And he came out, and he peed all over everybody—which doesn’t sound that great, but those systems were not supposed to be working. So the fact that he could do that meant that the clog wasn’t as severe as they thought.

We had watched over many months his bladder expand to the point that it filled his whole abdomen. It wasn’t draining. But he received a partial healing. In that moment, the Lord somehow healed him in that moment. And so the doctor who was waiting to take him to surgery said, “You just bought yourself a ticket out of the NICU, buddy.” And he never did have surgery.

He’s a healthy, happy boy. Now, he did lose a kidney, so it’s not without consequence. And we go every year, and I pray every year, if the Lord can raise Himself from the dead, He can resurrect one tiny little kidney. I still have faith for that healing. But he’s alive, and he’s a blessing, and we’re so grateful to have him.

Nancy: And you’ve had other children with similar types of kidney issues.

Erin: We have.

Nancy: I’ve watched you. I remember when you were carrying Elisha, and you didn’t know. You did not know when the delivery came what you would be facing, but you knew God.

Erin: Right.

Nancy: And Jason knew God. And you weren’t assured that He was going to spare your child’s life or that, all the negative things that doctor had said, they might have come true. For some people those things do come true, or worse than what they expect. 

But I watched you. And I don’t want to say it was like something super-spiritual. I think it was just grounded in who God is—that God is good—and, “If my son has physical challenges or issues, then God’s going to show us how to get through that.” I mean, it wasn’t like you had this promise that he was going to be okay.

Erin: Right. Even if he had not been okay, I am so grateful that the Lord spared my son. In fact, just recently it occurred to me that it was probably the prayers of my husband that saved the life of my child because he’s just a man of faith that believed and trusted and pleaded with the Lord for our boy’s life. But even if He hadn’t, that wasn’t what our hope was in.

Certainly, we wanted our boy to make it, and we’re grateful that he did, but there are two anchors that have secured my life. I’m not a boater, but I googled this one time: “When does a boat need two anchors?” A boat needs two anchors when it’s in the middle of a storm because if it only has one anchor in a storm, it will spin out and untether itself. But if it has two anchors, it will stay. And the two anchors that have secured my life are: God is good, and God is sovereign.

When my baby was growing in my belly and not likely to survive, I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I knew that God was good, and God was sovereign.

And we went on and had baby number two. He seemed healthy. The doctor told us, “That was a fluke thing. It probably won’t happen again.”

And then we got pregnant again with Judah, and he had a blocked kidney, and we walked through the whole process again. It wasn’t any easier because we’d walked it before, but we knew God was good, and God was sovereign.

And that baby, Judah, ended up having an extremely invasive kidney surgery at ten months. I remember getting to the point in the hospital, where they took my baby from me and went to the surgery doors, and Jason had to help me. My pastor was there. My parents were there. They had to pull me away from Judah because sending my baby past those doors was so hard. But I knew that God was good, and God was sovereign.

They gave us this little family room to be in, and my pastor, Tim, who’s been such a gift in my life, was there. Those were the words he spoke over us. “God is good, and God is sovereign.” We were together for what felt like an eternity while we were waiting to hear about our baby boy. And then when he came to us, he had all these tubes hanging out of his back. It was hard! But God was good, and God was sovereign.

And then baby boy number 4, Ezra, same thing. His kidneys are blocked. It’s less than his brothers’, and we go every few months and test it. Will he have to have the surgery? I don’t know. Will his kidney die like Eli’s kidney has died? I don’t know. I don’t know how the story’s going to end. Will one of them need a kidney transplant at some point? (Those are the conversations we have.) Will they need dialysis?

I don’t know any of that, but I know that God is good, and that God is sovereign. And we’ve been able to say to our sons, from very young ages, those things. We’ve spent a lot of time in hospital rooms with our boys, and we’ve been able to have those conversations.

Nancy: And those conversations continue into other areas of parenting. I’ll not speak to the rest of your life, but you had to trust God to be good and to be sovereign when it came to the physical birth and health of your sons. But how many other areas in a parent’s life do you have to realize, “I can’t control this. I can’t control the outcome”? And you have to keep going back to those same two anchors.

Erin: Yes. I actually see the diagnosis of Eli’s kidney blockage at twelve weeks in utero as a tremendous gift because I never for one moment as a mother thought I had any control. I didn’t even know if I was going to bring my baby home. So the focus has always been on, “These are His boys.”

It’s not always that dramatic. One of my children and I have different personalities. We don’t always get along. He’s a wild stallion of a boy. The Lord is going to have to bridle him. I have to trust the Lord with that. I don’t know what that looks like. And where do they go to school? It’s just scary to be a parent. It’s just scary. But . . . God is good, and God is sovereign. And those anchors have held.

Dannah: I love that picture from Erin Davis, of two anchors, holding the boat straight in the storm.

I talked earlier about Esther from the Bible. She learned that God rules even as she and her people went through what was, humanly speaking, an impossible situation.

There are lots of individuals in the Bible who experienced that same thing. You and I can grow in our understanding as we study their lives. Here’s Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, talking about one of them.

Nancy: It’s the Old Testament character of Job. You know the story, and I don’t have to give you a lot of background on it. You know that this is a man who endured enormous suffering, the loss of his possessions, the loss of his family, the loss of his health. And when all those catastrophes hit Job’s life, his first response, as you read the first couple chapters of Job, was to have a quiet and a trusting heart.

I mean, it’s an incredible example. He said, “The Lord gives. The Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” And in all of this, the Scripture says, in those early days, Job did not sin with his mouth. He did not falsely accuse God. He said, “Should God send us only good? Should we take only good from God’s hand and not evil? God is God. He can do what He wants” (paraphrase from Job 1:21–22; 2:10).

That’s a quiet heart. That’s a trusting heart. That’s what we see in Job after he first began to suffer. But the challenge is sometimes not in the first flush of suffering.

I have a friend whose dad passed away suddenly this past week, and I said to my friend, “How’s your mom doing?”

He said, “Well, right now she’s doing great. She’s being carried along. There is family; there are friends. It’s a crisis. It’s an emergency. The adrenaline kicks in. She’s doing fine.”

• The test is really, how do you do in the long haul?
• How do you do when the suffering doesn’t stop?
• How do you do when your mate doesn’t come back?
• How do you do when it’s chronic pain or chronic suffering or chronic problems?

Well, as Job gets into this suffering thing and it goes on and on and on, he begins to try and understand God’s purposes for his suffering and his pain. As he’s talking with his so-called friends, in their conversation they begin to stir up anxious thoughts within Job. And Job ends up in turmoil.

He starts with a quiet heart, but he begins to ask God and his friends and himself and anyone who will listen all these questions that come flooding into his mind. It really all comes down to the question of why. Why me? Why this? Why now? Why? What happens as the book progresses is that Job begins to try and understand things that are not fathomable. And because he can’t understand, rather than being content with mystery . . .

Now, keep in mind in all fairness, he’s a man who’s in great misery. But rather than relinquishing his questions and those answers to God, he begins to strive with God. He begins to hurl his questions at God one after the other.

The frustrating thing is that God’s not answering. So he keeps asking his questions. Well, this goes on for the better part of thirty-some chapters. Finally we get to chapter 38, verses 1–3, and finally God answers Job.

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? I will question you [Job], and you make it known to me." (ESV)

So God responds to Job’s questions by saying, “Job, I have some questions of My own. Now you see if you know the answers.”

Beginning in chapter 38 and following, God gives Job a comprehensive exam. I mean, it is a tough one! There are fifty-five questions, and these questions come one after the other. As I was reading these questions the other day, I just pictured one of those fastball pitching machines at a batting cage, where the balls just keep coming and coming at—I don’t know how many miles an hour—they’re coming fast! It’s like a little child having these eighty-mile-an-hour balls. He can’t get his bat on the ball. I mean, it’s just impossible.

The questions just keep coming. God keeps pitching to Job one question after another. “Job, where were you when I put the planets in orbit? Where were you when I planted the foundation of the oceans and of the earth? Job, where were you when I turned on the light? Job, where are you when the darkness?”

He begins to ask all these questions about nature and about the physical universe and about the things that we look at every day and take for granted. “Job, can you explain rain? Can you explain hail? Can you explain how the sun works? Can you explain that lunar eclipse in the sky last night? Job, answer Me these questions.”

And Job is speechless. Well, after the first forty questions, when we get to Job 40:1–2, the Lord says to Job, “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.” It’s as if Job is gasping for air. In verses 3–5 of chapter 40,

Job answered the Lord and said, "Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further.”

“God, You can stop sending those balls out of that machine!” But God’s not done. God has a few more questions. He wants to make sure that Job knows who’s God and who’s not. So He starts pitching balls once again. Job, “I will question you, and you make it known to me. Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?” (Job 40:7–8).

And now come fifteen more questions, one after the other, one harder than the next—about the created world, about all kinds of animals that you and I have never heard of and how they function. God is just wanting Job to see that there are so many things that we can’t begin to understand. Don’t try to think that you can understand why this suffering.

Then we come to the great statement of confession and repentance in Job 42, beginning in verse one.

Then Job answered the Lord and said, "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted." [You said, O God,] "Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?" Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. [You said to me,] "Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me [Job]." 

[Then Job says to God,] “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (vv. 1-6)

It’s not wrong to ask why, but are you asking with this turmoil and this drive that says, “God, if You don’t explain it, I won’t love You; I won’t trust You; I won’t obey You”? Or are you asking with this searching heart that says, “God, I want to know more of You. I want to know more of Your ways. I want to know anything You want to show me through this. But if I have to live with mystery and unanswered questions the rest of my life, I will still trust You. I will still love You. I will still obey You.”

Do you need to repent, as Job did, of exercising yourself with great matters, exercising yourself in things that are too high for you? Romans 11:34–36 puts it this way:

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! "For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor? Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to Him?" [And then that conclusion, that doxology.] For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. (NKJV)

Dannah: What a powerful reminder there, from Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth. 

Living in the light of God’s goodness and sovereignty will result in hearts at rest, not anxious about every problem that blows our way. If it were an equation, you could say it like this: Sovereignty plus Goodness equals Hope. S+G=H. God’s sovereignty plus His goodness results in your hope.

Hey, this coming Tuesday, Revive Our Hearts is hosting a live online event on Enduring Trials and Suffering. It’s the third installment in our Biblical Help for Real Life series of online events. Tuesday evening you’ll hear from Colleen Chao, Katherine Wolf, and others, as they help you know more about trusting in the goodness of God even when things are extremely difficult. 

For more information or to register, go to ReviveOurHearts.com/help. Even if you can’t make it to the actual event while it’s happening, you’ll have access to it for months to come. Again, the details are at ReviveOurHearts.com/help. 

Another important way to fight anxiety is by making conscious decisions to be grateful. Yes, I know the Thanksgiving holiday is later this month. But we need to be thankful all year round! 

Every year Revive Our Hearts designs a new wall calendar, always with a theme. The theme for the new 2025 Revive Our Hearts calendar is “Choosing Gratitude.” Nancy wrote a book by that same title. This is a 13-month calendar with quotes taken from Nancy’s book. The ministry calendar is our way of saying thank you to you for your donation of any amount. 

You can give and request the calendar by going to ReviveOurHearts.com/donate. Month by month throughout the next year, you’ll be shown fresh reminders to choose gratitude over anxiety, worry, and fear. Check it out at ReviveOurHearts.com/donate.

How do we press on, even when things are difficult? That’s what we’ll talk about next week.

Thanks for listening today. I’m Dannah Gresh. Have a wonderful week. We’ll see you next time for Revive Our Hearts Weekend.

This program is a listener-supported production of Revive Our Heart, calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.

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