20 Bible Verses About Control: God’s Rule, Human Plans and Self-Control

Job 42:2

“I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”

Reflection: Job speaks these words to the Lord after God has answered him at length. In the next verse he repeats the question God put to him, “Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?”, and admits, “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand.” His confession about God’s purpose comes out of a long argument with God, and it ends in repentance (42:6).

Psalm 115:3

“Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.”

Reflection: The psalm answers a taunt from the nations: “Where is their God?” (115:2). Verse 3 replies that he is in heaven and acts as he pleases, and verses 4-8 set this against idols of silver and gold that have mouths but cannot speak and eyes but cannot see. The psalm opens by refusing any credit for Israel: “Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory.”

Isaiah 46:9-10

“I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and 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.’”

Reflection: God addresses these words to “you rebels” (46:8) and calls them to remember “the former things, those of long ago.” The claim to make known the end from the beginning is followed by a concrete case in verse 11: “From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose.” Verse 11 ends, “What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do.”

Daniel 4:35

“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?’”

Reflection: Nebuchadnezzar says this after losing his mind and his throne. He had stood on the roof of his palace and said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built… by my mighty power” (4:30), and a voice from heaven decreed that he would live among the wild animals until he acknowledged “that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth” (4:32). When his sanity returns, he praises God in these words and adds, “those who walk in pride he is able to humble” (4:37).

Psalm 46:10

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Reflection: God speaks the line after the psalm has described him making wars cease, breaking the bow and burning the shields (46:9). The surrounding verses describe nations in uproar and kingdoms falling, and the command to be still sits between those scenes and the refrain, “The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” The second half of the verse says where this ends: God exalted among the nations and in the earth.

Ephesians 1:11

“In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.”

Reflection: Paul describes God as the one “who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.” The verse before names that purpose: “to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ” (1:10). The verse places the believers’ being chosen inside that plan, and verse 12 gives its aim, that they “might be for the praise of his glory.”

Romans 8:28

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Reflection: Paul writes this just after saying that “we do not know what we ought to pray for” and that the Spirit intercedes for believers (8:26). The promise is to “those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose,” and the next verse, which opens with “For”, names what God predestined them to: “to be conformed to the image of his Son.” Verse 30 continues the chain from called to justified to glorified.

Proverbs 16:9

“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”

Reflection: Proverbs 16 opens with the same contrast: “To humans belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue” (16:1). Verse 3 joins the two: “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” Proverbs 19:21 says it again: “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”

Proverbs 3:5-6

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Reflection: A father speaks to his son (3:1), telling him to trust the Lord rather than his own understanding and to submit to him in every path he takes. The next verse restates the warning: “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.” The promise attached is that the Lord will make the son’s paths straight.

James 4:13-15

“Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’”

Reflection: James addresses people planning a year of trade in another city, a plan that assumes they know what tomorrow holds. He reminds them that a life is “a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” and gives them a sentence to say instead: “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” Verse 16 calls their confident talk “boasting” and says “all such boasting is evil.” Proverbs 27:1 gave the same warning: “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”

Psalm 127:1-2

“Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat—for he grants sleep to those he loves.”

Reflection: The heading calls this “a song of ascents” and attributes it to Solomon. Builders, city guards and workers who rise early and stay up late are all said to labor “in vain” unless the Lord builds and watches. The second verse sets that toil beside the Lord who “grants sleep to those he loves.”

Matthew 6:34

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Reflection: Jesus ends a section on food, drink and clothing with this verse. Just before it he says that “your heavenly Father knows that you need them” and tells his hearers to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (6:32-33). The “therefore” draws on both statements, and the verse limits each day’s concern to that day’s trouble.

Luke 12:25-26

“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?”

Reflection: Jesus says this to his disciples after pointing to the ravens, which “do not sow or reap” and yet “God feeds them” (12:24). His argument runs from the smaller to the greater: worry cannot add a single hour to a life, so it cannot manage the rest either. He is speaking of food and clothing, which verse 22 names.

Philippians 4:6-7

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Reflection: Paul gives the instruction just after writing “The Lord is near” (4:5). He replaces anxiety with prayer, petition and thanksgiving, and the result he names is that the peace of God, which “transcends all understanding,” will guard the hearts and minds of those who pray.

1 Peter 5:7

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

Reflection: Peter attaches this command to the one before it: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time” (5:6). Handing anxiety to God is part of that humility, and the reason given is “because he cares for you.” The next verse adds a second command: “Be alert and of sober mind.”

Galatians 5:22-23

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

Reflection: Self-control comes last in Paul’s list of the fruit of the Spirit. The Greek word is egkrateia, self-control or temperance. The list stands against “the acts of the flesh” just before it, which include “fits of rage,” “drunkenness” and “orgies” (5:19-21). Verse 16 makes the same link: “walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

2 Timothy 1:7

“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”

Reflection: Paul writes to Timothy, reminding him to “fan into flame the gift of God” given through the laying on of Paul’s hands (1:6). The Greek word translated “self-discipline” is sōphronismos, which can also mean a sound mind. The verse leads into a call to courage: “So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner” (1:8).

Proverbs 16:32

“Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city.”

Reflection: The proverb ranks a patient person above a warrior and a person with self-control above one who conquers a city. The next verse turns from the self to God: “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord” (16:33).

Proverbs 25:28

“Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.”

Reflection: An ancient city depended on its walls for defense, and a city with walls broken through lay open to any enemy. The proverb gives that picture to a person without self-control. The verse before it warns that “it is not good to eat too much honey.”

Titus 2:11-12

“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.”

Reflection: Paul has just told Titus to teach older men, younger women and young men to be self-controlled (2:2, 2:5, 2:6). These verses give the reason: the grace that “offers salvation to all people” also “teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions.” Self-control belongs to “this present age,” lived “while we wait for the blessed hope” of Christ’s appearing (2:13).