And we know that God causes all things to work
together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to
His purpose.
Romans 8:28
MY STORY:
Christmas of 1985 - all I wanted was a clothesline, ironing
board and a baby doll. It was from a picture in my favorite storybook at the
time. My heart already knew its desire to be a mom and a homemaker.
Fast forward to 2009, Matt and I had been married for 4
years, and “we” decided that it was time to start a family. After a year of
trying to conceive and failing, we knew something was not right. As we
continued to search for answers over the next few years, I approached Matt
about doing foster care through Stafford County, which is something that we
probably would not have thought about if we hadn’t been struggling with
infertility. We decided to sign up for the foster to adopt program, as well as
for emergency placements. We went through the appropriate training and were
certified to be foster parents in the spring of 2012. Matt and I began praying
that the Lord would bring the children that He wanted into our lives. It was
specifically Matt’s desire to have siblings, in order to keep them together.
And we prayed that if the Lord willed, He would allow us to adopt.
After over a year of having our certification, in May 2013,
we received a phone call in the middle of the night. As we aroused from sleep and realized what was
going on, we saw that the department of social services had left a message. To
be honest with you, Matt and I were terrified. We had basically lost hope of
being foster parents since it had been over a year that we had finished our
certification. We prayed and asked the Lord to guide us and called them back. We
were ready to take a leap of faith, whatever that meant for us that night. We
found out that it was a 1-year-old little boy and a 2-year-old little girl that
needed a home. Unfortunately, they had already called another family who had
agreed to take them.
As we prayed over what had happened the next day, Matt’s mom wisely counseled us and said, “If the Lord wants those children to be with you, they will be with you.”
Two days later on Friday morning, at 6 AM, I receive a
Facebook message notification asking if we would be interested in caring for
these little ones because the family that took them in for the emergency
placement had decided that they would be unable to care for them long-term.
Matt had to go to a testing that morning that meant that he would be unable to
communicate with me until he finished. But before he left, we decided that we
would care for the children. I talked to the social worker about their specific
case and found out that the parents had turned them over to the state and had
indicated that they would be willing to sign over their parental rights. I was
on my way to pick them up by 9AM.
There isn’t enough time this morning to tell you all of the
lessons and challenges we faced, but over the next 14 months, the Lord grew our
faith. We prayed that the Lord would use this time in a mighty way in our
lives, in the lives of the children, the social workers and hopefully the
biological parents. But, even with all the warnings given to us by those who
had previously done foster care and by the social workers, we did not realize the
depth of all that the Lord would do in our hearts during and after this time.
And we KNOW that God causes all things to work together
for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His
purpose.
Today we're looking at the life of Joseph. Who is remembered for perhaps the greatest verses on sovereignty in the Bible.
Joseph was NOT unacquainted with who God was. His great grandfather, Abraham, spoke with God and was given GREAT and PRECIOUS promises. Joseph’s grandfather, Isaac, saw God’s miraculous provision of a ram to be sacrificed in his place. Joseph's father, Jacob, wrestled with God and had the promises reaffirmed. Joseph KNEW who God was and the promises that He had made to his fathers.
Joseph’s story starts in Genesis 37 --
Jacob had TWELVE sons. But Joseph was his favorite. He was
the son of his favored wife, Rachel and the son of his old age. Jacob gave him
a robe of many colors shamelessly displaying his
favoritism. When his brothers saw their
father’s partiality, they hated Joseph.
God gave Joseph two dreams indicating that someday he would
rule over his whole family. When Joseph told his brothers the dream, they hated
him even more.
One day Joseph was sent out by his father to meet up with
his brothers who were out in the field pasturing their flock. As they saw him
from afar, they plotted to kill him. But Reuben, one of Joseph’s brothers, persuaded
the others to throw Joseph into a pit instead.
They sold Joseph to a caravan of Ishmaelite’s who took him
to Egypt. The brothers took Joseph’s robe, tore it and dipped it into blood and
gave it to their father saying that Joseph was dead.
The Ishmaelite’s then sold Joseph to the house of Potiphar
who was an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard in Egypt. Because God was
with Joseph, he rose in power in the house of Potiphar and was given complete
trust. Unfortunately Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce Joseph repeatedly and as he
fled from the scene she got ahold of his coat and accused Joseph of “rape”
which landed him into prison even though he has done nothing wrong.
While Joseph was in prison, he was given charge over all
that was done there, because the Lord was with him. Whatever he did, the Lord
made it succeed.
One day, the chief cupbearer and chief baker displeased the
king and were thrown into the same prison as Joseph. They each had dreams one
night and Joseph interpreted their dreams. The interpretations were correct and
consequently, three days later, the cupbearer returned to his job in the house
of Pharaoh and the baker was executed. Joseph asked the cupbearer to remember
him, but was forgotten for two full years.
Two years later, Pharaoh, the king of Egypt had two dreams
in one night. The cupbearer finally remembers Joseph and brings him to Pharaoh.
Giving glory to God, Joseph interprets his dream and tells Pharaoh to save 20
percent of everything that grows for the next 7 bountiful years, because following;
there will be 7 years of famine. Pharaoh then pulls Joseph from prison and
makes him the prime minister of Egypt. He gives him a wife and they have two
sons.
Joseph’s prediction was correct. There were 7 years of
plenty and then started the 7 years of drought. In the second year of the
famine, Joseph’s family, back in the land of Canaan, were starving to death.
Jacob sends 10 of his sons to Egypt to buy food. When they arrive, they don’t
recognize Joseph, but he recognizes them! He plays a little game with them that
eventually brings them to the end of themselves. And when he cannot contain
himself any longer Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers.
Now let’s open to Genesis 45 beginning in verse 3 –
And Joseph said to his brothers,
“I am Joseph! Is my father still
alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his
presence.
So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me,
please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you
sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because
you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.
Verse
7 …
And God sent me before you to preserve for you a
remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you, it was NOT you,
who sent me here, but God.
Verse 14 …
Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept,
and Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After
that his brothers talked with him.
Joseph then moves his entire family from Canaan to Egypt,
including his father Jacob. Nobody starves and everybody has enough to eat.
Over the next 430 years they grow from about 77 people to 2 million strong.
And we know that God causes all things to work together
for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His
purpose.
Joseph’s life is the epitome of Romans 8:28. Let’s look at
God’s Sovereignty in Joseph’s life through the lens of this verse. We will see 6
Aspects of the Sovereignty of God:
1. God is the CAUSE of all things
“And we know that God causes…”
The cause, is God Himself. God causes all things to work
together for good. God causes. Joseph states this in verse 8 of Genesis chapter
45. It was NOT YOU who sent me here, but God.
In today’s world, we see luck and random as aspects of our lives.
But in a world that is controlled by a sovereign God, nothing is random or out
of control, there is no such thing as “luck.” God is sovereign and he
deliberately rules and has His “lock” on everything.
There is an old acrostic for the word LOCK: that God…
Limits
Orders
Controls and
Knows everything.
Things are the way they are because that is how God has
ordained them to be. There is no arena where his absolute authority is not absolutely
exercised.
Isaiah 46:9-10 –
…for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end
from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My
counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
He is not only controlling each movement of the smallest
molecule but he also is controlling the movements of all the planets and what
happens in the United Nations. And for our purposes, everything in between is
also controlled by him: Who you marry or don’t marry, what college you go to,
if your children come to know the Lord, if you get cancer, what you wore today
and each person you come in contact with.
God
causes all things…
Now this does not mean that we do not make genuine,
un-coerced decisions. We do have choices. But what it does mean is that we are
under the sovereign hand of God. And everything that happened in Joseph’s story
and OUR stories is a result of God’s sovereign plan.
2. God’s Sovereignty is COMPREHENSIVE
God
causes ALL things to work together
for good.
The word “all” here MEANS “all”. We would have no guarantee
of peace, if God was only in control of MOST things. Because when you are in
the midst of the trial and say, what if this is one of the things God doesn’t
have under control… no, it’s ALL things. We can rest in God’s care and control
in ALL aspects and situations in our lives.
This is easy to believe during times when we feel that the
world and all things in it are going our way. But it takes faith and a correct
understanding of this verse to believe that “ALL” means “ALL” when you are in
jail in Egypt for a crime that you didn’t commit. But it’s true! Everything.
Even the seemingly bad things are caused for our good.
After 14 months of starting this journey, as Matt and I walked
into the last court hearing for the children, I sang the Chris Tomlin song,
“Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other!
Our God is Healer, Awesome in Power, Our God, Our God!” It was supposed to be a
reminder to us that whatever God did, He was the one doing it.
At the hearing, the judge ordered that the children should
be returned to their biological mother. As we walked out of the courtroom, I
did not see God’s goodness. I was angry at
the social workers and the judge for allowing this to happen. I struggled with God’s
love and His definition of “good.” How could it be good for these precious
children to go from a home where they would learn about Him back to a place of uncertainty
and a place where there was such outward rebellion against the Lord? I failed
the test that day.
Matt reminded me, this was not out of God’s control. God did
not lack the power to create a different outcome. This was God’s sovereign plan for our lives
and for the lives of these children. Even if I didn’t understand it.
God challenged me that day to actively live out what I said I
believed. Without this trial, I would not get to struggle through these aspects
of God’s character or the promises that He had made to me, as His daughter, or
recognize God’s magnificence and comfort in a new and deeper way and actively –
minute by minute - surrender my heart to His!
How then could I be angry at the people God used to bring
about His plan? Joseph did not have bitterness toward his brothers for their
actions against him because he recognized that it was not them. Remember what
he said when he spoke to his brothers? …IT was NOT them, BUT GOD, that put him
in that place. While the intentions of the brothers were evil against Joseph,
the sovereign intentions of God, were for good.
ALL
things…
In the joyful things, the mundane things and even the
seemingly catastrophic things: ALL things.
His sovereignty is comprehensive.
3. God’s sovereignty is COORDINATED
“He
causes all things to work together …”
This means that every event is influenced by previous events
and will influence future events. As we saw in Joseph’s life…
If he was not his father’s favorite, he would not be hated
by his brothers. And if he was not hated by his brothers then he is not thrown
into a pit. And if he is not thrown into a pit, he would not be sold to the
Ishmaelite’s. And if he was not sold to the Ishmaelite’s, he would not be sold
into Egypt. And if he is not sold into
Egypt, he does not meet Potiphar. And if he does not meet Potiphar, he does not
meet Potiphar’s wife. And if he does not meet Potiphar’s wife, then he doesn’t
get accused of rape. And if he doesn’t get accused of rape, then he doesn’t go
to jail. And if he doesn’t go to jail, then he doesn’t meet the cupbearer. And
if he doesn’t meet the cupbearer, then he doesn’t interpret his dream. And if
he doesn’t interpret his dream, then no one knows that he can interpret dreams.
And if no one knew that he could interpret dreams then, when Pharaoh has the
dream, they are going to squander all of the produce during the seven good
years. And then they are not going to store up for the 7 years of famine. And
if they didn’t save the 20 percent of goods, then a famine would come over all
the land and then his family and many others are going to die. And if his
family dies, then his brother Judah dies. And if his brother Judah dies, there
is no king David. And if there is no King David, there is no King David’s
greater son, Jesus Christ. And if Jesus did not come, then I’m going to hell
and so are you!
BUT… all of those things did happen and Jesus did come! And
Jesus was the Lion from the tribe of Judah. And he was born of a virgin and
lived a sinless life. And he fulfilled the law. And Jesus Christ, our Savior
took the sins of God’s people on Himself. And there on that cross, he paid in
full the penalty for our sins! Christ died for our sins! They laid him in a
grave and he rose on the third day and He is alive today! Here is the good
news: God has sovereignly moved every detail of history to redeem us to Himself.
PRAISE THE LORD!!
The story of Jesus Christ did not come out of nowhere. There
are countless events that God causes to work together with precision and
coordination. Those circumstances in our lives that appear to be unnecessary,
or unrelated, or “random” are actually a perfectly crafted plan. There is
coordination.
4. The Sovereignty of God has a CONCLUSION
It
is … for our GOOD.
It does not mean that every event in our lives will be pleasurable or that we will even have an explanation of why specific events had to take place.
Matt and my story is not finished ... I don’t have a lot of
answers and for most of our stories they will feel unfinished, even possibly to
the point of death. And we don’t have to know everything.
But the word “good” in this verse is better than us getting
answers in this lifetime. The context in Romans 8 refers to those that will receive
an ultimate good. They will be glorified.
This does not take away the pain that we feel in this life. There
is pain through this life. And when that pain comes, it is not sinful and you
are not lacking in faith when you express pain, sadness or grief during
those times.
In Ecclesiastes 3 it says, – “There is a time to mourn”…
a
time to cry!
But it is to say that we know the ending… for GOOD! At the end of the day, God
causes all things to work together for good.
That is why Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:17, during scourging’s
and imprisonment could say it is a “light and momentary affliction!” It doesn’t
FEEL light and momentary.
But look at his reasoning for saying that…
“For momentary, light affliction is producing for us
an eternal weight of glory far
beyond all comparison,”
He had eternity in view! His perspective was not on the day-to-day issues.
That is also why he can say, “To die is gain!” Philippians 1:21
5. There is a CONDITION to the promise of Romans 8:28
… to those who love God, to those who are called
according to His purpose.“
This is not a universal promise that applies to all humans
without exception. This is a promise for those exclusively who love God.
We objectively know that we love God, because He first loved
us. That is the gospel. But this verse speaks for OUR love for Him. So, here is
the question, DO YOU LOVE GOD?”
Be careful as you answer this! There are people that can
explain God’s sovereignty and know all the verses connected with it, but do
they TRULY love God? The question is not, do you logically follow the argument
of what it means for God to be sovereign and active in the affairs of men. The condition
to the promise is, “Do you love God?” “Do you have a heart for Jesus Christ?”
The proof of our love for God is in our obedience! “If you
love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15
We cannot skip over this because it is the condition that
propels this verse. If Joseph doesn’t love God enough to resist Potiphar’s
wife, then he doesn’t go to jail. And if he never goes to jail, we never read
about him, and he never rescues his family.
Do you love God?
Otherwise, there is no promise for good, but there is a
promise for bad. Even if, in this lifetime you have utopia…when you close your
eyes in death, you will awake to eternal conscious punishment in hell. That is
the ultimate bad.
6. God is CONSUMED with his own glory.
“…to those who are called according to His purpose.“
God is consumed with His glory. He is moving every detail
for His glory. That is His purpose in
everything and He will not give His glory to another.
Isaiah 48:11
“… My glory, I will not give to another… “
Things worked out well for Joseph and
his family, but that was not God’s primary and ultimate purpose. Even your
salvation, as grand as it may be to you, is not an end, in and of itself. God’s
chief motivation is HIMSELF. If God was primarily devoted to anyone or anything
other than Himself, He would be an idolater. Let’s not read the Bible in a man
centered, narcissistic way. God does what He does because that is what He wants
to do and He does it for Himself, because He is worthy.
So, the question is… Am I consumed with God’s glory? If I am
not also consumed with His glory, then I will never have peace in my “prisons.”
CONCLUSION:
There is such a great depth to the doctrine of God’s sovereignty
and we won’t be able to cover it all today. That is why I am excited to go through this
series! But as we think through these important truths, I want us as the ladies
of this church to speak truth into each other’s lives, through the trials that
we may find ourselves in today or in the future.
I have placed 3 questions on the table that we are going to
reflect on individually for about 5 minutes. Then, I’d like us to take about 10
minutes to talk with each other about the questions and then pray for one
another. Let us share our struggles with one another and bring them before the
Lord together. The questions are:
QUESTIONS:
1.
Do
YOU love God? Can you claim this promise as your own? If so, are you consumed
with HIS GLORY?
2.
What
is the biggest area in which you struggle with God’s sovereignty? How does what
you learned today help you in that struggle?
3.
Are
you actively (not perfectly) relying on God’s sovereignty in your life today?
Are you encouraging those around you to trust in God’s sovereignty in their
lives?
