Does God control all things, or just some things?

The Noah Webster 1828 Dictionary defines sovereign as follows:

Sovereign = as an adjective—

1. Supreme in power; possessing supreme dominion. God is the sovereign ruler of the universe.

2. Supreme; superior to all others; chief. God is the sovereign good of all who love and obey him.

3. Supremely efficacious; superior to all others; predominant; effectual; as a sovereign remedy.

4. Supreme; pertaining to the first magistrate of a nation; as sovereign authority.

Sovereign = as a noun—

1.       A supreme lord or ruler; one who possesses the highest authority without control. Some earthly princes, kings as emperors are sovereigns in their dominions.

So what does it mean when we say God is sovereign? He is supreme in power, superior to all others and possesses the highest authority without control. To say that God is sovereign is to speak of the fact that He is in control of ALL things. If even one little, minute detail escaped His care or notice, then He would not be sovereign, and thus not really in control of anything.

If someone falls and breaks a hip, many people’s first response would be to think this could not possibly be God’s will. If God is sovereign, then He allowed that to happen. If it could happen outside of His control, then the cascade of events following that event would also be outside of His control. Your broken hip caused you to miss work, your coworker then had to travel to a place youshould have been and met people you should have met. In the meantime, the ER doctor was called in on his day off to repair your hip fracture, leaving his family alone to deal with a burglary that was about to happen. I could carry on this line of thinking to infinity. One broken hip, that you may say should not have happened, and every person involved has to be somewhere they “should not” have been. Soon the ripple effects would be far and wide, leading ultimately to the common belief today that God is small and helpless.

No one who calls themselves a Christian would flat out say that God is small and powerless, but is that not what they are in effect saying? It is not God’s will for Christians to be poor, sick, (fill in the blank). Today’s “theology” common in the church is to deny God’s sovereignty. (again, I am no theologian. I have however, come to understand so much more about God's sovereignty and have found some comfort in that knowledge.)

As one who has been through my share of suffering, I was truly humbled and awestruck when God first opened my eyes to His sovereignty. Everything I have, all that I am, all that I go through, is from the loving hand of my Father in heaven, who works allthings “together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). I cannot adequately express the peace and comfort this thought brings to me; how it helps me to live joyfully each day. NOT ONE THING escapes God’s notice. He is allowing things in each of our lives, that we might be molded more and more into the image of His Son, and our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Are there areas in your life where you have perhaps acted as if God were not involved, or He had no control over them?