Tonight after the final service at Sierra Bible Church in Reno, a woman came by the book table. While she was writing a check, she said, “If you’re going to die by hanging, you’ll never drown.” I looked up and said, “What was that?” She smiled and said that that was a favorite saying of her father. She hated when she was growing up, but now she understands it as a profound statement regarding God’s sovereignty.

If you’re going to die by hanging, you’ll never drown so don’t worry about it either way. You can only die one way, and since all our days are written in God’s book (Psalm 139:16), and he alone knows how our earthly journey will end, we don’t have to live in fear of the future. We’ll all die someday, sooner or later, but when the moment comes, we may hang or we may drown, but we won’t do both.

So cheer up, saints of God. If you’re going to die by hanging, you’ll never drown.

You can reach the author at ray@keepbelieving.com. Click here to sign up for the free weekly email sermon.