On Romans 8:38-39

God is sovereign over death.

The moment the cord is broken is never accidental, whether it comes by a long-fought battle with cancer, a freak accident, a ferocious attack, miscarriage, or sweet, silent sleeping into eternity.

God is sovereign over life.

He governs the womb, can close it or open it (even at 90 years old), chooses the moment of new life, weaves every strand of DNA together, sets each family in place with the shape, color, and combination of people He desires. He can preserve life at no effort or expenditure of labor, regardless of any human diagnosis. Near-death experiences are not near anything to Him. Life expectancy is a merely human notion.

God is sovereign over angels.

They do His bidding absolutely and always. They are the mighty ones who do His work, obeying the voice of His word. All the hosts in all places of His dominion are fully under His control. They are ministering spirits, who do what He sends them to do.

God is sovereign over demons.

The enemy forces are strong and thick. They manipulate human hearts and plant lies. They wreak deception, death, and destruction. But if He determines it is time for them to leave a place, they will go. If they would desire something otherwise, they must implore Him (and perhaps He will mercifully send them into a herd of pigs, but only if He so desires).

God is sovereign over the present.

Look around you, at the combination of struggles, pleasures, personalities, gifts, and limitations you experience right now. God has set you in this place. He determines the red lights we hit, the flu virus picked up on a cart handle, the moment of sweetness in a toddler, the pile of dirty dishes that ceaselessly advances, the computer glitches, the pot of hot coffee, the food in the fridge, the pants that are getting a bit too tight.

God is sovereign over the future.

Our imaginations can paint a million pictures of what tomorrow may bring: horrific nightmares of all that could befall us and empty daydreams of how it will go if we have things our way. But our story is written in God's book already. He knows the precise turn of plot that we will face. No experience or struggle will catch Him off guard. No difficulty will come without its predetermined grace and purpose. There are new mercies for each morning, and He knows and holds them all for precisely the right moment.

God is sovereign over all powers.

The manipulations of a boss, the eye of a hurricane, the empty promises of a politician, the repentance of a spouse, the tide that pulls you under or sends you back to shore, the dripping water that slowly erodes, the forces that swirl around us, so far beyond our ability to control or even understand. They are each in His hand. No wind blows except at His bidding. The clouds are the dust of His feet.

God is sovereign over height.

The space shuttle that exploded, the plane that soars, the stars that dance in unfathomable space, the lofty plans of aspiration and ambition, the day when everything just goes right.

God is sovereign over depth.

The secret fish at the bottom of the ocean, the pit of despair you can't even imagine crawling out of, the lost treasure that slowly rusts away from any human eye, the crushed and heart-broken.

God is sovereign over every created thing.

Did something get missed? God is sovereign over it. If it exists, and He made it, then it falls within His realm of authority. The tiniest molecule and cosmic expanses.

And you, the movements of your heart, the secret longings, hidden sins, ability to hunger and thirst after what is good or what is evil. All is in His hand.


And if God is indeed sovereign over all that, then none of it can intervene with His determination to love those whom He has chosen.