You Are Sovereign Here

“And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose... if God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”
Romans 8:28-32
I find it so encouraging to know that God has ensured my salvation in every way.  That it is He who created me, who "sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood."  It is He who drew my heart and overwhelmed my hostility to Him and my utter inability to choose Him.  It is He who is continually sanctifying me and doing whatever it takes to ensure that I look more and more like Jesus.

I love the words "all things" in this passage.  How it literally means that God will use anything at his disposal, which is absolutely all things,  to make us more like Jesus (which is our good).  Whether that's blessing or suffering, prosperity or calamity, joy or pain, all things are used for our good.  God is sovereign over all of it.

The word sovereign simply means that there is no higher authority.  There is no outside force that is causing God to act a certain way.  He is the ultimate authority.  So in everything, whether good or bad, He is acting authoritatively for our good.

I was serving on staff at a church in Houston and I wrote this song literally days before Hurricane Ike hit us.  God had in mind calamity for a city in order to draw us to Him and make us more like Him.  Right around the same time, the economy collapsed and so many people just lost everything; years of savings and pensions and retirements and homes.  And yet in the midst of all this, we were singing, "God we trust you - You are sovereign in this situation." 

What are you going through right now that you need to be reassured that God is sovereign?  Are you trusting in His ultimate saving, sustaining power?  Do you believe that He, as our Father, truly does love you, and is using this for your good?  Because the word is clear, he is.

Rest in His sovereignty and trust in Him.  Place your hope in Him, for with Him is all hope and life and everything.


You can make the rain fall on me
Or fly away
You can make the sun shine on me
Or hide for days
You can make the wind cool my face
Or tear apart this place
Doesn’t mean You’re far away

Oooooooooooh, I trust in You,   I trust in You
You are sovereign Here
Oooooooooooh, I hope in You,   I hope in You
You are sovereign Here

You can make the seas calm or rage
And both to praise Your name
You can make the skies fall with flames
To show Your glory
You can break my heart to bring me joy
You can take it all to make me more like You