“But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”
This text comes at the end of the saga of Joseph and his eleven brothers who sold him into slavery. This is years later, when Joseph had the time to look back on everything that had transpired since his brothers had betrayed him. He tells his brothers that he knows that they really wanted to get rid of him, not caring whether he lived or died, but that God had a greater purpose for all that transpired in that event. In other words, Joseph came to realize that after all is said and done, God was in control of that situation, for He knew what would take place with His people Israel, and He took the evil that they intended and turned it into good for His people. This has not changed, for God is still in control of all of the things that take place in our lives. It might not seem so at first, but as things work out, we can look back and see the handiwork of God in our lives. Recognizing God’s control in our lives is all-important. We need to see that it does matter who is in control of our lives. The sinking of a ferry in South Korea that is in the news as I write this is a case in point. The captain of the ferry turned the control of the ferry over to a novice who had never taken the ferry through those treacherous waters, and the result was the needless loss of many young lives. This is what happens in our lives when we cease to recognize God’s control in our lives. Many lives are “shipwrecked” today because they took control of their own lives, or turned their lives over to someone besides the Lord Jesus Christ. God’s control in our lives is important because God alone knows what the end of the matter will be. We might have something that takes place in our lives that shakes us to the core. For example, it might be a serious illness that sidetracks us for awhile. During that time we can feel useless, or we can use the time of suffering to draw closer to the Lord. We just need to trust the Lord day by day that He knows what is going on and what the result of our illness will be. I would never accuse God of making us ill, but I do know that He uses those times to grow us and to lead us to His successful conclusion of the matter. It might be a setback in your plans for your life. It might be that you lost your job and did not know which way to turn. That would not be pleasant, but if you will seek God’s control, you might find that God had something else that He wanted you to do. God’s control is important because He knows what we really need in our lives instead of what we think we need. Many people have decided when they were young to follow some career that would bring them riches and maybe even fame. But God had other plans, and began to steer us in the direction that He knew we need to go. We might have been well-meaning in our plans, but God meant better for us. “Better for us” is always what God wants of us instead of what we want for ourselves. If you have been disappointed in your life at this point in your life, consider whether or not you have surrendered to God’s control, or to your own control. We like to think that we are “masters of our own fate,” but we make poor masters for ourselves. Surrender all that you are and have to God’s control and see what can happen in your life. Like it was with Joseph, you might meet many pitfalls along the way but in the final analysis, your life will be better and you will be better off under His control. It could be that the Lord has you reading this article now, because you need to turn control of your life over to Him. Go quickly to prayer and start to seek God’s guidance and see what a difference it will make in your life. Bro. Joe
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
All
Archives
September 2021
|