The Hand of the Lord Who Holds All Things

Text: Revelation 1:12–18 “Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”

Back in high school, there was a girl in our youth group—a kind, reasonable person—who had a strange reaction to the song “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.” Yes, the simple Sunday school song: “He’s got the wind and the rain… the tiny little baby… you and me, brother…” That one. It did not annoy her in the usual way— like when you hear it a few too many times. It made her genuinely angry.

At the time, I did not ask why. We were teenagers; we were preoccupied with other things. But ‘Why?’ is a good question—because she is not the only one who is angry at the idea behind that song.

For example, let us consider British actor and atheist Stephen Fry. A few years ago, he gave an interview that became fairly well-known. He was asked what he would say if he found himself standing before God. He replied that, if he were suddenly standing before God, what he would say is: “Bone cancer in children? What’s that about?… Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid God who creates a world that is so full of injustice?” In fact, he said that, if Pluto, Hades, and the Greek gods were real, he would be more accepting—because they did not even pretend to be good. But a God who claims to be all-loving, all-wise, and still permits the suffering you see in this world? That, he called a maniac. He, too, was angry at the idea of a God who holds all things in His hands.

Let me be clear: the girl from my youth group was a Christian. She did not hate God like Stephen Fry does. But that’s the point—even believers struggle with the idea that God holds all things in His hands.

And yet, in Revelation 1, when John sees Jesus holding seven stars—symbols of the seven churches—that vision is meant to be comforting. “Fear not,” Jesus says. And John had much to fear. He was exiled there on Patmos for the crime of preaching Christ. And, according to Church tradition, he was sent there after he survived being boiled in oil (Tertullian, Prescription Against Heretics). They could not kill him, so they did the next best thing. John had much to fear.

And those seven stars, they represent churches in Asia Minor. They had much to fear, too. Each one faced false teaching, complacency, spiritual compromise, or outright persecution. To those churches—and to John—Jesus appears, holding them securely in His hand, and saying, “Fear not.”

Let me cut to the point. Tonight our focus is on “the hand of the Lord who holds all things.”

Does that image make you angry at all the suffering, at all the injustice you see around you— while He insists that He holds all things in His hands?

Or maybe you are simply afraid. On the one hand, you have the assurance that He holds all things. On the other hand, you know what you see and feel every day. So many things look like sheer chaos; life feels so fragile; so many things feel broken. And He insists that He holds all things in His hands.

Or maybe you are just tired— tired of trying to hold it all together yourself. “Life places so much in your hands— decisions, relationships, deadlines, caregiving, parenting, grief— and you do your best to keep it all from falling apart. You juggle. You manage. You push through” (generated by ChatGPT, April 8, 2025). You do your best to keep yourself from falling apart. And yet He insists that He holds all things in His hands.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: Fear not.

The One who seems oblivious to how tired you are under the burden of this life was, Himself, driven so hard and so far that He needed help to carry His cross. “Surely he has borne [your] griefs and carried [your] sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted” (Isaiah 53:4).

The One who seems unwilling or unable to stem the tide of the long list of things that drive you either to anger or to despair willingly gave Himself over into the hands of sinful men. You think you are angry about the evil that is all around you in this world. Your anger, my anger, Stephen Fry’s anger on account of the suffering in this world does not compare to the righteous wrath of your Heavenly Father at what is done within His creation. And, on that cross, with His hands held securely by the nails, Jesus bore every last measure of that righteous wrath until He was finally able to declare, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46, quoting Psalm 31:5).

“He entered [your] suffering, [your] weakness, [your] death— and came out victorious” (generated by ChatGPT, April 8, 2025). “Fear not,” He declares, “I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades” (Revelation 1:17–18).

He holds all things in His hands. “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…” (Hebrews 1:3). “To him [has been] given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:14).

He holds all things in His hands. And, more importantly, He holds you.

As often as you are driven to rage at the things that go on in this world, as often as you are tempted to give in to fear, as often as you find yourself too tired to hold it all together, He says the same thing to you that He said to Thomas: “Put your finger here, and see my hands….” See the mark of the nails (John 20:25). “Do not disbelieve, but believe” (John 20:27). Those are the hands that hold all things. Those are the hands that hold you. The one who died and is alive forevermore, who holds the keys to Death and Hades, has given you eternal life, you will never perish, and no one will snatch you out of His hand (John 10:28).

I hope that the Sunday school song does not make you angry, even when it annoys you. But I pray that you know the comfort of the hand of the Lord who holds all things.