My unlimited ride wristband was on and it was time to tackle fair rides. As I stepped onto the Fireball, my nerves were shot. The duct taped restraints didn’t inspire confidence either. The loop-the-loop spun my friend and me through a range of sensations with varying force. As the car hesitated at the top of the loop, I was upside down and my body weight rested on the restraint. I was out of control and the only thing keeping me in my seat was a restraint and the grace of God. I had a blast!
While I voluntarily got on that ride (even paid for it!) to receive the thrill of being pulled along, I don’t always welcome such events in other areas of my life. It appears there is a delicate balance between God’s sovereignty and my freewill. The life of Joseph so clearly demonstrates this balance. Situations took place in his life that were out of his hands. He did not choose to wind up in a pit, be sold to Midianite traders, be put in prison under false accusation of rape, or to be forgotten by a cellmate who could have influenced his release. What Joseph did have control over was his response. Scripture tells us that the LORD remained with Joseph, whether Joseph found himself in prison or in power.
However, Joseph’s brothers can be characterized by worry. After their father Jacob dies, they worry yet again about Joseph possibly turning on them in anger over their cruelty to him before. Joseph comforts them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”
Can we welcome evil against us as the sovereign allowance of God? The culture wars for Christians seem to be one area that our trust in Him collapses under the weight of “What if?” If only certain events would unfold (the right presidential candidate, the right law, or Christian influence on culture) then we would regain control. Maybe so, but maybe God will allow things to happen that are beyond the control of the conservative Christian. Maybe we are at a point in the Church’s history where God is working something for His kingdom through the unbelieving world for us to be able to reach the unbelieving world.
For the believer, the sovereignty of God is an immense comfort and source of stability. If you have resorted to your own control over your eternal security, His sovereignty is a judgment instead. There is only One that God has highly exalted. One day, “…at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10,11).” Let that day be a joyous one by acknowledging the truth of Christ as Lord and Savior of your life today.
When Joseph found himself second in command only to Pharaoh he didn’t have to campaign to get there, it was given to him. I would like to think that living Joseph’s life would have been a wild ride, one that would have been (dare I say) a blast to live.
“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed (2 Peter 4:12,13).”