God is NOT in control of earthly events, and everything serves His purpose. Let me say that again: God is NOT in control of earthly events, and everything serves His purpose, because of the strength of His love.
The Christian God, unlike all other conceptions of God in history, including the Aristotelian one most of you are now struggling with, accomplishes his end by love, which precludes control. The story arc of the Bible shows Him gradually shifting from power to love alone, like every parent must do with every child. So sovereignty, in the Christian universe, is not SIMPLY an issue of the silly calculus of free-will versus His action. The question is more nuanced and interesting than that.
He accomplishes His purpose without control? Sure, the Bible actually opens by posing the problem, divests God of control as the story develops toward the Nativity scene (the least control you can have is to be an infant), and climaxes in the victory of the Apocalypse.
Meditate on what God actually did in the first few moments of the world. In the Garden, He:
1. indisputably, voluntarily gave up control, which
2. indisputably went badly, which
3. indisputably served His purpose.
Extrapolate at will.
TimothyOne 