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Sovereign over All
For example, consider Lamentations 3:32–33:
Though he cause grief, he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast
love;
for he does not afflict from his heart
or grieve the children of men.
He does grieve us, but not from his heart. I take that to mean
that while there are aspects of his character (his heart) that
incline away from grieving us, nevertheless other aspects
of his character dictate the holiness and righteousness of
grieving us.
He is not double-minded. There is a perfect beauty and
coherence in how all his attributes cooperate. But neither
is he without complexity. His character is more like a symphony
than a solo performance.
So when I say that God’s sovereignty means that he can
do, and in fact does do, all that he decisively wills to do, I
mean there is no force outside himself that can thwart or
frustrate his will. When he decides for a thing to happen,
it happens. Or to put it another way, everything happens
because God wills it to happen.
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