The Invisible Hand
Coming to Grips With
Godfs Providence
Speaker:
M.Noorhoff
Genesis
50:20
Dr. R. C. Sproul has
written several books
one of his latest is entitled, The Invisible Hand. This is how he
begins the
very first chapter:
I had
just pulled my car into the garage
and stepped out of it when the door to the kitchen opened and my
daughter,
Sherrie, appeared. Her face was ashen, and there was a look of horror
in her
eyes. She rushed into my arms, blurting out the words, "Oh, Daddy! My
baby
is dead!"
I held
her against my chest as she sobbed
and sobbed. She was in the ninth month of her pregnancy and had just
returned
from a checkup with her obstetrician. He could not detect a heartbeat.
As gently
as he could, he explained what that meant: her unborn child had died in
the
womb.
Sproul
goes on to say that the very next
day Sherrie entered the hospital, went into labor, and gave birth to a
stillborn daughter.
I have found it difficult
to recognize
newborn infants by their facial features; they all seem to look alike
to me.
But the image of that tiny child was burned into my memory forever. As
I held
her I was overwhelmed by this incredible conjunction of life and death.
The
child was perfectly formed in every respect. But she was not breathing.
Sherrie
and her husband, Tim, named their
child Alicia. She was buried with a regular funeral service attended by
our
family and our pastor. We stood by the grave and wept together as we
committed
her body to the earth and her soul to our heavenly Father.
Every woman who has
delivered a stillborn
baby knows the devastation it brings to the heart. Who can experience
such a
thing without crying to heaven and asking, "Why?" It is normal to
wonder where God is in such circumstances. It is where the rubber of
human
anguish meets the road of divine providence (pp. 1-2)
Why?
Why? Why do these things happen? And
why do they happen to good people, decent people, Christian people?
I. Providence Defined
There is
a biblical doctrine that while not
answering every question helps us understand or at least gives us a
foundation
for understanding. It is the biblical
doctrine of the providence of God. In
English the word "providence" has two parts. Itfs "pro" and
"video" put together, literally meaning "to see before."
Though
the word providence is not found in
most modern translations of the Bible, the concept is certainly
biblical. It
refers to "Godfs gracious oversight of the universe."
Oversight means that he directs the course
of affairs in this world c. its gracious because God does so as an act
of His
love. God doesn't just create the world
and then let it spin on its own c he creates the world and becomes
intimately
involved in the affairs of the world c concerning himself with the
tiniest
details.
Here are
five statements that unfold the
meaning of Godfs providence in more detail.
He
upholds all things.
He governs all events.
He directs everything to
its appointed end.
He does this all the time
and in every
circumstance.
He does it always for his
own glory.
The doctrine of Godfs
providence teaches us
several important truths:
First,
God cares about the tiniest details of life. Nothing escapes his notice
for he
is concerned about the small as well as the big. He knows when a
sparrow falls
and he numbers the hairs on your head. He sets the day of your birth,
the day
of your death, and he ordains everything that comes to pass in between.
Second,
There are no accidents with God, only incidents. This includes
events that seem to us to be senseless tragedies.
Third, Godfs
ultimate purpose is to shape his children into the image of
Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). He often uses difficult moments and human
tragedies
to accomplish that purpose.
Many
verses in the Bible teach these
truths, including Acts 17:28
("in him we live and move and have our
being"), Colossians 1:17
("in him all things hold
together"), Hebrews 1:3
("sustaining all things by his
powerful word"), Proverbs 16:9
("in his heart a man plans his
course, but the Lord determines his steps."), and Psalm 115:3 ("Our God is in heaven; he does
whatever pleases him"). In the
words of R.C. Sproul, and before him Albert Einstein, "God doesnft roll
dice." Nothing happens by chance. Ever.
With
that as background, we turn to
consider the story of Joseph. If you are acquainted with the Bible at
all, you
have heard his story somewhere along the way. It goes something like
this.
Because
Joseph was the favored son of his
father Jacob, he was the object of envy by his many brothers. One day
his
brothers conspired to sell him into slavery to the Midianites who
happened to
be passing by. They did that, and then splashed his "coat of many
colors" with the blood of a goat in order to make it appear that he had
been killed by a wild animal. They then showed the coat to Jacob, who
believed
their lie and sorrowfully concluded that Joseph was dead.
Meanwhile
Joseph was taken to Egypt
by the
Midianites. There he was sold again, this time to Potiphar, who was
head of
Pharoahfs security force. Genesis 39
tells us that Joseph gained favor with Potiphar because the Lord was
with
Joseph to bless him. Eventually Potiphar put Joseph in charge of his
entire
household, which included the land, care of the property, and oversight
of the
other slaves. This was a signal of honor for a Hebrew slave.
Because
he was competent, confident, and
good-looking Potipharfs wife approached him about having a sexual
affair.
Joseph refused, pointing out that he could not betray Potiphar and he
would not
sin against God. The woman persisted, to the point that one day when
everyone
else was gone, she attempted to pull him down on her bed. Joseph fled
from the
scene, leaving his cloak behind. The woman was humiliated and accused
him of
rape. It was a false charge, of course, but Potiphar believed his wife
and had
Joseph thrown in prison.
And in
prison Joseph prospered once again
and gained the respect of his fellow prisoners and of the guards. This
happened
because the Lord was with him to bless him. Eventually the cupbearer
and the
baker were thrown in the same prison and Joseph befriended them. One
night they
both had dreams they could not interpret. But Joseph was able to
interpret them
with the Lordfs help. The dreams came true exactly as Joseph had
predicted\the
baker was hung but the cupbearer was released. Joseph asked him to
remember him
after he was out, but he didnft.
Two
years passed and Pharoah had a dream
that he could not interpret. Thatfs when the cupbearer remembered
Josephfs
amazing ability and mentioned it to the Pharoah who ordered Joseph
brought
before him. Joseph correctly interpreted his dream and was rewarded by
Pharoah,
who made him the Prime Minister of Egypt. Not bad for a Hebrew slave
who had
been sold into slavery by his brothers!
Eventually
a famine settled on the Near East.
Jacob told his sons to go to Egypt and buy
some grain. They go and in the process meet Joseph\only they donft know
itfs
Joseph. This happens twice. Then Joseph reveals his true identity. They
are
shocked and then scared because they betrayed him and now he is in a
position
to get even. But Joseph doesnft do that. In fact, he stuns them with
these
words:
And now,
do not be distressed and do not be
angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives
that
God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in
the land,
and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for
you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
So then,
it was not you who sent me here, but God. Genesis
45:5-8
But
thatfs not the end of the story. The
brothers go back to Canaan and tell
their aged
father that Joseph is still alive. He canft believe it but eventually
they
convince him to come to Egypt
with them. He makes the trip and is reunited with the son he had given
up for
dead many years ago. Then he meets the Pharaoh who offers to let
Josephfs
family settle in Egypt
for as long as they like. The family settles in Egypt
and lives in peace there for
many years. Finally Jacob dies at the age of 147. Now itfs just Joseph
and his
brothers. They fear that with Jacobfs death Joseph will be free to take
revenge
on them. So they tell Joseph, "Oh, by the way, before Dad died he told
us
to tell you to treat us kindly." It sounds like just one more deception
to
cover their guilt.
Listen
to Josephfs response. These are the
words of a man who believes in the providence of God:
Donft
be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God
intended
it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many
lives. Genesis 50:19-20
The King
James Version translates verse 20
this way: "You meant it for evil,
but God meant it for good." Both sides of that statement are true.
"You meant it for evil"\what the brothers had done was indeed evil
and Joseph doesnft sugarcoat the truth. They are 100% responsible for
their
sin. "God meant it for good"\this doesnft mean that evil isnft evil.
It just means that God is able to take the evil actions of sinful men
and use
them to accomplish his plans. Joseph saw the "invisible hand" of God
at work in his life. He understood that behind his conniving brothers
stood the
Lord God who had orchestrated the entire affair in order to get him to
just the
right place at just the right moment in order to save his whole family.
Joseph
is saying, "Though your motives were bad, Godfs motives
were good." And though it took years and years for Godfs purposes
to
be clear, in the end Joseph saw the hand of God behind everything that
had
happened to him.
Think
about the implications of that
statement:
At just
the right moment his brothers threw
him into the cistern.
At just the right moment
the Midianites
came along.
At just the right moment
he was sold to
Potiphar.
At just the right moment
Potipharfs wife
falsely accused him.
At just the right moment
he met the baker
and the cupbearer.
At just the right moment
the cupbearer
remembered Joseph.
At just the right moment
Pharoah called for
him.
At just the right moment
he was promoted to
Prime Minister.
At just the right moment
Jacob sent his
sons to Egypt.
At just the right moment
the brothers met
Joseph.
At just the right moment
Jacobfs family
moved to Egypt.
At just the right moment
Pharaoh offered
them the land
of Goshen.
At just the right moment
they settled there
and prospered.
All of
this happened at "just the right
moment" and "just the right way" so that the right people would
be in the right place so that in the end everything would come out the
way God
had ordained in the beginning. God never violated anyonefs free will,
yet
everything happened as he had planned. Thatfs the providence of God in
action.
Thatfs
also what Romans 8:28
means when it says that "In all things God works for the
good of those who love him, who have
been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).
III.
Some Implications of Godfs Providence
A. Providence frees us from
bitterness.
This is
clearly the message of Genesis 50:20.
If ever any man had the right to
get even it was Joseph. We get bitter because we doubt Godfs goodness
and we
donft see his invisible hand at work in our lives. We think God isnft
involved
in our situation and thatfs why we get angry and try to get even and
hurt the
person who has hurt us. If you really believe God is at work in your
situation,
you can just stand back and let God do whatever he wants to do.
B. Providence gives us a new
perspective on our tragedies.
That
perspective might be stated this way:
God is involved with us even in the worst moments of life. I believe
that in
the great issues of life we will generally not have an answer to the
question
"Why did this happen to me?" That is, we wonft know why our mate got
sick or why we lost our life savings. Most of the time we are simply
left to
wonder why these things happen. Who would dare to say to a woman, "This
is
why your child was stillborn"
But it is at this point
that Godfs
providence is so crucial. It doesnft tell us everything we would like
to know
about the mysteries of life, but it does assure us that God is there
and that
he cares for us. He is somehow involved even in our darkest moments in
a way we
cannot see\and probably wouldnft understand even if we could see it.
Because
of Godfs providence we can keep
believing in God even in the face of many unanswered questions. He can
bear the
burden of all our unanswered questions.
C. Providence gives us
courage to keep going in hard times.
Because
God is there, we know that he cares
for us, even when life is tumbling in all around us. This Biblical
doctrine
doesnft answer every question, it doesnft make our problems go away,
and it
doesnft give us an easy road. But it does tell us that there is a
pattern to
the seemingly random events of life and that God is designing something
beautiful out of that which now seems to be only a chaos of clashing
colors. Life is hard\make no mistake
about that, but God is good. Both those statements are true all the
time for
all of Godfs children.
D. Providence forces us to
make a choice by faith.
The
older I get the more I understand that
faith is a choice, not a feeling. Many times we wonft feel like
believing in
God. But faith is a personal choice we make to believe that God is good
and
that he can be trusted in every situation. Faith rises above feelings
to choose
to believe even when our circumstances may argue against it.
E. Providence helps us understand why Jesus died.
Listen
to these amazing words from Acts 2:23,
"This man was handed over to you by Godfs set purpose and
foreknowledge;
and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him
to the
cross." There you have both sides of the truth. Jesus died "by
Godfs set purpose and foreknowledge." That tells us that the Cross was
not
an accident or some afterthought in Godfs plan. But who crucified him?
Remember
that Peter is preaching to the men who participated in that evil deed.
"You, with the help of wicked men, put him to death." His death was
no accident. God foreordained it from the foundation of the world. Yet
the men
who crucified him were guilty of the most heinous crime in human
history. They
were morally guilty, but what happened to Jesus happened because of
Godfs
divine plan.
Godfs
providence leads us to Jesus and
Jesus leads us back to the Cross.
He
Maketh No Mistake
I close with a poem by
A.M. Overton. The
poem is called "He Maketh No Mistake."
My Fatherfs way may twist
and turn,
My heart may throb and
ache
But in my soul Ifm glad I
know,
He maketh no mistake.
My cherished plans may go
astray,
My hopes may fade away,
But still Ifll trust my
Lord to lead
For He doth know the way.
Thof night be dark and it
may seem
That day will never break,
Ifll pin my faith, my all
in Him,
He maketh no mistake.
Therefs so much now I
cannot see,
My eyesightfs far too dim;
But come what may, Ifll
simply trust
And leave it all to Him.
For by and by
the mist
will lift
And plain it all Hefll
make,
Through all the way, thof
dark to me,
He made not one mistake.
In the end
that will be
the testimony of
every child of God. When we finally get to heaven, wefll look back over
the
pathway of life and see that through all the twists and turns and
seeming
detours that "He made not one mistake."
Until that
morning comes
and the sunlight
of Godfs presence fills our faces, we move on through the twilight
still believing
that though life is hard, God is good. And in the end we will say with
all the
children of God as we look back on our earthly pilgrimage, "He made not
one mistake."