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Last updated on
Oct. 26, 2005
God's Counterspin
Delivered August 21, 2005
by Pastor Werner De Jong
Text: Genesis 45:1-15
Main Idea: In spite of the chaos that sometimes envelops our lives, when circumstances spin out of our control, the Bible reassures us that our good, caring God is still in control, providentially working out his good purposes.
Purpose: To encourage the listeners that our Sovereign Lord is at work in our lives at all times, even when things seem to be falling apart, to bring about his good purposes. To challenge the listeners to place their faith in God's providence.
Introduction: Last Sunday Dave Glick spoke about a year in his life when everything went wrong. There was a suicide in the family, a painful conflict in the church and sharp losses in his greenhouse business. Have you ever gone through a time like that? There are times in many people's lives when everything seems to go smoothly, and then there are times in our lives when everything seems to go wrong, and circumstances spin out of our control. But when that happens, what does it do to our faith? Where is God when our hopes and dreams and plans are crumbling around us? It is easy to believe in the goodness of God when everything in our lives is going well. But do we still believe in God's goodness when things go wrong?
The Story of Joseph: In today's Bible reading we encounter the final chapter of the story of Joseph. His life story is full of sharp ups and downs. It is a story of jealousy and sibling rivalry, of treachery and betrayal, of sex and palace intrigue. From the perspective of curiosity alone, we wonder how these things affect Joseph's faith. From Joseph's perspective, life started happily enough. As the youngest son of his father Jacob he was favoured over his older brothers. On one occasion he was given a royal coat, a beautiful robe that made his brothers' garments appear plain and drab in comparison. How proud he must have been to strut about among them to show off this special gift! Joseph must have beamed with pride, and looked forward to a good life of happiness and privilege. And he could scarcely contain his excitement when, sometime later, he had two dreams which implied that his older brothers, and even his father and mother, would one day bow down before him. He immediately rushed off to tell his brothers the good news! That was the beginning of the end of his comfortable existence. His brothers had already grown to hate him because of their father's partiality. But this was the final straw. Therefore when their braggart of a brother approached them one day in the fields they quickly devised a plot to kill him. They threw him into a pit, but then aborted their murderous scheme when a caravan of slave traders en route to Egypt passed by. Here was an even better plan–they could get rid of their hated sibling without getting any blood on their hands. And so Joseph was sold into slavery. Then the brothers told their father Jacob that a wild animal had devoured his favourite son. And for a long time after that nobody could comfort him.
Meanwhile in Egypt Joseph was alive, if not well. He was bought by Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh's palace guard. Although Joseph was a slave, things gradually began to look up for him. He was such a successful manager of his master's affairs that he was put in charge of the entire household. But then Potiphar's wife became infatuated with Joseph, and kept trying to seduce him. But Joseph consistently refused, until the day she grabbed him by the shirt and demanded, "Sleep with me!" Joseph fled, but she tore a piece of his shirt off and accused him of attempted rape. When Potiphar heard the news he grew furious and threw Joseph into prison.
Joseph languished there many years. Many times he must have wondered, "Where is God in all of this? Did God not give me a dream of destiny?" On one occasion his hope revived when a fellow prisoner, the king's cupbearer, promised to put in a good word for him, after Joseph had interpreted a dream for him. But he forgot, dashing Joseph's hopes, and it wasn't until two years later, when Pharaoh himself had a dream, that the cupbearer remembered his promise. Pharaoh then sent for Joseph, who interpreted Pharaoh's dream to mean that Egypt would have seven good years followed by seven years of famine. He counselled Pharaoh to store up grain during the good years to help ward off disaster during the bad years. Pharaoh thought so highly of this advice that he elevated Joseph to second-in-command in all of Egypt.
Then one day Joseph's brothers travelled to Egypt out of desperation for the promised famine had struck. Their families were starving, and when they sought to buy grain they were directed to Joseph, but didn't recognize him. Joseph, however, clearly recognized them. It is a wonderful ironic twist. Their lives are now in his hands. To make a long story short he didn't reveal himself, but sent them home with grain for their father Jacob and their families. But he did retain one brother in his custody, in order to ensure that the others would return. This is where our Bible reading picks up the story. The other brothers eventually return, and once again their lives are in Joseph's hands. And this time Joseph can't contain himself. He dismissed all of his servants and told his brothers who he was.
Providence: The words Joseph spoke on this occasion mark the climax of the entire narrative. There are many preachable moments in this story–we could speak about dysfunctional families, we could speak about the power of dreams, we could speak about resisting sexual temptation, we could speak about gross injustice–but all of it is leading up to this one moment. How will Joseph deal with his backstabbing brothers? What will he say to them? Joseph could easily have spoken angry, spiteful words. He could have taken his revenge. After all, his brothers' actions had spun his life out of control. Because of what they did, he was forced to work many years as a slave, and he had to languish many years in prison. But instead of avenging himself this is what he said: "Don't be distressed and angry with yourselves for selling me here, because God sent me here in order to save lives. This famine has already lasted two years, and it will endure for five more. Therefore God sent me ahead of you to save your lives, to preserve for you a remnant on earth. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God."
This is a remarkable confession of faith. Joseph, in effect says: "You tried to spin my life one way, but God added a divine counterspin and worked through your actions to save you and our people! God's guiding hand has been behind all of this." Remarkably, Joseph's severe trials didn't weaken his faith. Rather, they strengthened it. But it wasn't until he was safely through his prolonged season of despair that he had eyes to see it for what it was.
Joseph's words amount to one of the classic statements in the Bible of what scholars call the doctrine of "providence." Providence means that our good, caring God is fully in control of his creation, working out his good and perfect purposes. Providence simply comes from the word provide. It teaches that God provides for us. Our Creator is not withdrawn from the world he made; rather, God is completely in charge of his world.
The teaching is not that God causes evil or bad things to happen; rather, the teaching is that God is able to overrule them and to bring good out of evil. God is able to apply his divine counterspin when other sinister forces swirl in our lives and threaten to engulf us. As Joseph later said to his brothers: "God turned into good what you meant for evil" (Gen. 50:20). The knowledge of his divine protector, fully in charge of the world, must have provided great comfort to Joseph, and helped to heal his deep wounds. The supreme example of God turning evil to good came from the mouth of Jesus while he was in the garden of Gethsemane. Judas had just finished betraying Jesus into the hands of the Roman soldiers. Peter reacted by drawing his sword and slicing off the ear of the high priest's servant. But Jesus rebuked him saying: "Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?" On the one hand, Jesus was clearly betrayed by a human being, by Judas. On the other hand, Jesus clearly stated that God was ultimately at work in this circumstance.
Mystery: There is certainly great mystery in this teaching: What is the relationship between human free will and God's power to control events? Neither the story of Joseph nor the story of Jesus' arrest ever linger to attempt any explanation at this question. Neither does the rest of the Bible. Is God fully in control of human history? The Bible answers with an unequivocal yes. If God were not in control, and fully sovereign, what kind of God would he be? On the other hand, are human beings truly free to write their own history? The Bible answers yes. If we did not have true freedom, what kind of people would we be? We are left with a great paradox: God does God's own work and at the same time God fully honours our work. Joseph's brothers did their free work. It was their free decision to sell Joseph into slavery. But in the end it was God at work in their work that helped save the life of Israel's family. Three times Joseph states that "God sent me to Egypt." We cannot solve the riddle, we are simply asked to accept it by faith.
There is always an element of mystery in faith. Faith wouldn't be faith if we could see, understand, and explain everything. Faith asks us to be open to the mysterious but redeeming possibility that when things seem to be crumbling all around us, God is still at work, and God is still good, and God has not abandoned us. Joseph helps us see how the grace of God is able to work in our lives when everything seems to be falling apart–by transforming a curse into a blessing. The people who immediately benefited from God's grace to Joseph were old Jacob and his family. Their lives were preserved from the devastating famine precisely because Joseph was in charge of Egypt, to where they had sold him as a slave. And Joseph himself of course was raised to an impossibly high status. But the ultimate recipient of God's loving intervention in Joseph's life is all humankind. For when God preserved the family of Jacob, God preserved the family of promise, from whom would one day arise our Lord Jesus. In a very real way Joseph's story is our story. We too have benefited from God's dealings with Joseph in Egypt. As God was gracious to Joseph, so God is gracious to us. Joseph's story encourages us to see that there are no storms in this world which have enough power to withstand the power of God's counterspin. Dark forces may try to drown us in a whirlpool of chaos and confusion; but God is stronger, and God will bring his good purposes for creation and for us to pass.
What Providence Means for Us: This teaching has wonderful implications for our lives as followers of Jesus. It reassures us that life is not simply a random series of events. As Christians we are never in the grip of blind forces like fortune, chance, luck or fate. Instead, the mysterious and often hidden hand of God is at work in all circumstances. This conviction led the apostle Paul to write to the Romans that everything that comes our way is ultimately for our spiritual and eternal good: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Rom. 8:28). Therefore we are able to live in the assurance that God is present and active in our lives. When we go through difficult trials, we may wonder where God is, or even if God is good. God's word encourages us that God is with us in the midst of our trials, transforming evil to good.
Because of this we can face the future with confidence, in the knowledge that the things that happen in our lives are not happening merely by chance. Our sovereign God is fully in control of this world. At times it certainly may not feel like it, and we may struggle with the mystery of it all, but it is the truth. Therefore we can even face danger knowing that God is not unaware or uninvolved. God never promises to spare us from trial or danger, but God does promise to preserve us within them. On one occasion Jesus used the teaching of God's providential care both to challenge and comfort his disciples before he sent them out into the world as sheep among wolves. Listen to his words: "Do not be afraid of those who want to kill you. They can only kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Not even a sparrow, worth only half a penny, can fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to him than a whole flock of sparrows" (Mt. 10:28-31). If the lives of little sparrows are supported and cared for by God, to the point that they cannot even fall apart from God's will, how much more is our good and caring God intimately involved in all the aspects of our lives? We can cast all of our cares upon God because God cares for us.
The good news when we are going through hard times is that newness is possible. Because God is ultimately in control of life, happy surprises are possible, and we are encouraged to wait for them. Joseph may well have wondered if he would ever be a free man again, but then God did a new thing in his life. God brought good from evil. God's greatest surprise came when the grievous darkness of Good Friday was followed by the splendid glory of Easter morning. God brought life from death itself. Because God did such a great thing, we can be confident that God can surprise us in the same way. If God can raise the dead, God can surely breathe new life into our struggling lives. God is remarkably resourceful against every threat to our true lives.
Application: Therefore when you go through dark valleys, don't be afraid. Rather, lift up your head, for the Lord your God will come to you and see you safely on your journey. For God will take the darkness and turn it to light. It won't always be easy for us to believe that God is at work even in the dark and destructive moments of life. It won't always be easy to identify God's work of grace or redemption in some of our experiences. But the story of Joseph and the story of Jesus lead us to the conclusion that, in spite of those times when God seems absent, the ruler of the universe is not only fully in control, but is also a kind and caring friend.
When we begin to believe this good news, the way we view life changes. For example, when people hurt us, like Joseph's brothers hurt him, we won't seek for ways to get revenge. Rather, the conviction of God's merciful providence will enable us, in effect, to love our enemies, even as Joseph loved his brothers and forgave them and blessed them. Joseph found the strength and the grace to act as he did precisely because he believed that God was in control and that God's purposes toward him were good. His guiding light was the certainty that God's will toward him was good. Joseph acted mercifully because he knew that God was merciful, even after all he had to endure. God calls us to do the same.
When we place our faith in our good, sovereign God, and acknowledge that God is fully in control of this world, and at work to counterspin any harm done to us, then we begin to grow into Christ's likeness. For then when others bring harm into our lives, we will respond more and more as Jesus did, by loving them and forgiving them and working to help achieve their best interest. We will be able to do this as free persons, not worrying about the trials we have to endure, for God is present with us in those trials, and our future is secure.
Conclusion: Our lives are in the hands of a good, wise and powerful God who is able to accomplish his good purposes in the world. I'd like to conclude now by reading the words of an old hymn written by Civilla Durfee Martin:
Be not dismayed whate'er betide, God will take care of you;
Beneath his wings of love abide, God will take care of you.
Through days of toil when heart doth fail, God will take care of you;
When dangers fierce your path assail, God will take care of you.
All you may need He will provide, God will take care of you;
Nothing you ask will be denied, God will take care of you.
No matter what may be the test, God will take care of you;
Lean, weary one, upon His breast, God will take care of you.
God will take care of you, through every day, o'er all the way;
He will take care of you, God will take care of you.
Amen!