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Are you feeling your life circumstances out of control? Or are you feeling anxious about the future? Let’s take comfort with Scripture’s most comforting teaching: the Sovereignty of God.

Joseph: men planned evil, but God planned good

Joseph’s brothers planned to kill him,[1] but God used their evil plan for good, to save many lives.[2] God turned around Joseph’s suffering. He had been sold to slavery, falsely accused of adultery, thrown into prison and forgotten while in prison, but he was to be given Pharaoh’s signet ring, dressed in fine robes and a gold chain as Pharaoh’s designated ruler over Egypt,[3] to provide grain to people enduring famine. God arranged all Joseph’s life circumstances, including his suffering, for the saving of many people.

Ruth: the “coincidental” life

God also arranged Ruth’s life, in circumstances we would call ‘coincidences’. Out of all the grain fields in Judah that Ruth could’ve worked in, Ruth just “happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz”.[4] And out of all the times Boaz could’ve arrived back from his trip from Bethlehem, he just happened to arrive when Ruth first started working in his field.[5] And while Boaz was pressing ahead with his plan to marry Ruth, the man with a prior claim as the kinsman-redeemer declared his willingness to claim the land but not the woman.[6] Are these coincidences? No – God was working through Ruth’s ordinary life – the circumstances of conversation and work – to provide for His people, especially through the Messianic lineage of Ruth and Boaz.[7]

Jesus Christ: Suffering before Glory

The apostle Peter preached: “This man [Jesus Christ] was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross.”[8] God arranged for Christ to die on the cross to bring about forgiveness of sins to us all;[9] and not only that, “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”[10] God arranged the Christ to suffer before receiving Glory as King.  

The story of your life

God says in Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good.” As He did in the lives of Joseph and Ruth, God has pre-arranged all of  life’s circumstances for Christians. This includes the mundane conversations and everyday work, and including even suffering, to bring about His purpose: all this for the good of all who love Him. The story of Christ’s life is similar to the Christian’s – God has arranged for Christians to suffer before glory, as Paul writes: “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18) So take comfort in God’s sovereignty over your life.

– Patrick Jason

[1] Gen 47:20

[2] Genesis 50:20

[3] Genesis 41:41-42

[4] Ruth 2:3

[5] Ruth 2:4

[6] Ruth 4:1

[7] Matthew 1:5

[8] Acts 2:23

[9] Acts 3:38

[10] Acts 2:36