“Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. “For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.read more.
“Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.”
(Genesis 45:5-8)
God is in complete control of all things.
IS IT TRUE THAT EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON?
In short, YES.
Because God is sovereign, there are no random, out-of-control happenings, no ‘whoops gee I totally missed that’ moments from God.
Although God’s purposes may be hidden from us, we can be assured that every event, every circumstance, every struggle has a reason behind it.
In the opening scripture passage above, there was a reason for Joseph’s mistreatment, despite his brothers’ purpose in what they did to him was very different from God’s purpose in allowing it.
The Law of cause and effect, the doctrine of original sin, and the providence of God are all evidence that everything happens for a reason.
When I first came to know Jesus Christ as my Savior my whole perspective on who God was and what were His motives behind it, that He really did love me, even though I wasn’t “cleaned up “ to stand before a holy God, this all blew me away.
But there was one aspect of His love and extent of that love that really puzzled me, that of the brutal death of my “hero” my Savior being beaten, scourged beyond the point of punishment, for you and me.
And yet, there was a reason for Jesus’ death—the authorities in Jerusalem had their reasons, based on evil intent, and God had His, based on righteousness.
These are just a few examples of where God’s Sovereignty and Providence meet to demonstrate that everything does happen for a reason, not just by happenstance or by random chance.
I think about circumstances and situations in my own circle of family and friends that initially spell out a reaction of why does this have to happen, why God can’t You just make it better, make it right?
Many of us in our circle have been drawn to determined prayer several times a week on a phone with six people all at once praying together, despite a distance of over 400 miles apart. And all this prompted by God for us to pray over a beloved 2 year old in the family that is fighting a battle over an extremely rare degenerative disease. God in His Sovereignty and through His providence has chosen this method to do a work, proving that everything happens for a reason.
The providence of God works unlike anything we would ever do if we could. He quietly and invisibly works through the natural world to manage events. God, in His providence.
He works out His purposes through natural processes in the physical and social universe. Every effect can be traced back to a natural cause, and there is no hint of the miraculous. The best that man can do to explain the reason why things happen in the course of natural events is to point to “coincidence.”
This is why we pray believing that God is at work within the world we cannot see through our faith in God, our entrusting what is important to us unto Him and trusting Him with it because we believe that God, “works all things together for good, unto those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
One of my favorite “go to” passages in the Bible I go to when things are, and are not happening within my natural eye is the book of Esther.
It reminds me that while God may be working in and working out in my life, He is bringing many different kinds of people around me to work out His plan.
The book of Esther shows a blueprint of God’s Divine providence at work. Beginning with the banishment of Vashti, the selection of Esther, the plot of the assassins, the pride of Haman, the courage of Mordecai, the insomnia of the king, the bloodlust of Zeresh, and the reading of the scroll—everything in the book happens, like cogs in a well-oiled machine, to bring about the deliverance of God’s people.
Although God is never mentioned in Esther, His providence is seen working through “coincidences”
Remember the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac his son. Before they went up the mountain, Isaac said to his father, “Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” (Genesis 22:7).
Abraham answered, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And when God had shown Abraham a ram caught in the thorns, Genesis 22:14 says, “Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide.”
When we read in Genesis 22 the word “provide” the Hebrew word actually means to “see.”
Very simply Abraham said to Isaac, “God will see for Himself the lamb.” And in verse 14: “The Lord will see.” Why is this so important, that God’s “seeing” mean that He will provide?
I think it means that God never simply sees without acting. He is God. He is not a passive participant in a world that exists without His sustaining it. Wherever God is looking, God is acting.
God is always at work in the lives of His people, and in His goodness will bring them to a good end: “God is always at work in the lives of His people, and in His goodness will bring them to a good end, especially and when we don’t see it: “being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you, will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6).
Whatever struggle you’re going through, however long it seems, be encouraged that God is working for you. Keep on trusting Him, yield to His will, “casting your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.”(1Peter 5:7)
Walking the Berean Road 