Wife of pastor who committed suicide posts message to him

Andrew Stoecklein was married to Kayla and father of their three small boys. He was also pastor of a thriving megachurch in California.

Last Saturday, he took his own life.

His wife has now posted a remarkable tribute to her husband. I hope you’ll read it in its entirety. She closes: “Until we meet again I will cling to my Father in heaven. He will carry me through every second, every minute, every hour of every day.” She continues to say of God, “He has got this.”

Why do you need to trust your Father’s sovereignty today?

A message from a 120-year-old chapel

I was walking in our neighborhood recently and passed a wooden chapel built in the 1890s. A nearby cemetery houses the remains of Civil War veterans. Over the chapel stood the moon, estimated by scientists to be 4.53 billion years old. In front of me was the morning sunrise.

This thought occurred to me: God is sovereign over all of this.

He was sovereign when this chapel was constructed 120 years ago. It witnessed World War I, in which my grandfather fought and during which his family despaired of his life. It witnessed World War II, in which my father fought and during which his family despaired of his life.

It witnessed the Cold War, during which I participated as a child in bomb drills in case we were attacked. It witnessed the Vietnam War, during which I had friends whose brothers fought in the jungles of Southeast Asia.

It witnessed 9/11, the most horrific terror attack in American history. It witnessed the Great Depression and the Great Recession. During each period of great calamity, Christians came to worship in that wooden chapel in the belief that their God was sovereign. And they were right.

Now it’s our turn. What does the sovereignty of God mean for us, in practical terms?

One: Our God is so sovereign that he can be present in our darkest hours.

Jesus promised, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). David could pray with gratitude, “In…