“Heaven rules.”
I can’t recall a time when I didn’t know and believe this theological truth at some level, thanks to parents who taught and lived it out in our home as I was growing up. But increasingly, throughout my adulthood and even more so in recent years, this way of viewing the complexities and crises of life in this broken world has captured my heart. It has become a lens through which I see and process, well, everything. Rarely does a day go by when I don’t speak of it or share it in some fashion with someone else, some person who’s gasping for air amid the churning white water of their own worries or questions or fears or difficulties. Just minutes ago, in fact, I had occasion to remind a dear friend of this reassuring truth in a phone conversation.
“Heaven rules,” to me, is not some nebulous adage confined to the unseen realms beyond time and space. It reminds us that our God in heaven is actively controlling and working through every single happening, event, and circumstance taking place on the earth, and He is doing it to accomplish His good, eternal, redemptive purposes.
He is doing it despite whatever you may hear concerning the state of our world while watching or scrolling through the news of the day.
He is doing it despite whatever pops up as you check your email or social media feeds after you emerge from a long meeting.
He is doing it despite the nervousness that’s ticking under your wristwatch while you’re perched in yet another doctor’s office or hospital waiting room, listening for your name to be called.
Heaven is still ruling. Heaven is always ruling.
I realize it doesn’t always seem that way. It may appear, at times, that just the opposite is true. On any given news day, it can feel like our world is spinning out of control, that evildoers are winning the day, and that God is helpless (or unwilling) to do anything about it. Our news feeds were recently flooded with reports of havoc and even genocide taking place in Ukraine. Does Heaven rule in this corner of the world that is being reduced to rubble?
On a more personal level, it may seem that God is dismissive toward your situation, sluggish to act, even coldly unconcerned about matters weighing heavily on your mind and heart, difficulties that distract and distress you and sabotage your joy.
But for those who “know their God” (Dan. 11:32), not even the most dreaded, drastic, or deathly occurrences can steal their hope and confidence in Him. All will be well, even though at the moment nothing seems to be well. This truth is unshakable, despite any and all indications to the contrary. Even when storms are raging within and around us, you and I can sleep in peace each night, and each morning we can awaken to renewed comfort and courage because of this immutable, irrefutable reality.
Because Heaven rules.
This article was adapted from Heaven Rules by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2022). Used by Permission.
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