Gen. 45: 7-8
“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.” – Joseph to his brotherspayday loans LENDERS ONLINE
The reality for you and I is that we all want to be in control… all the time and in every situation. I don’t know about you, but each time my plans get shifted – even in the slightest – my frustration meter begins to heat up and frustration isn’t far behind. Why? Well, I believe the primary reason is that I am my primary reason… for anything I do.
We all ask the same basic questions… no matter our background…
* Where did I come from?
* Why am I here?
* Where am I going?
The questions themselves indicate that we want control because by securing those answers, we think, we will be able to set our own course and find our own purpose. The problem that I have found in locating the answers to those questions is that though they (the questions) are focused on me, the answers point to Someone else being in control.
We think freedom is birthed from control. As we have reign over each moment, our ability to walk in freedom will increase. I don’t know about you, but life has taught me something very different. Freedom, I have found is only birthed inside the security of a guarded path. Only the person who runs inside the boundaries set by someone who can actually guard those boundaries is truly free.
As Joseph went through dilemma after dilemma I have to believe that he would think, at times, if I could just “get out” and be free I could set a course that would make my life meaningful. But, as time passed, Joseph started to see that the physical limitations he was placed in over and over again were just a course set by the One who was actually in control. When he speaks to his brothers (quoted above), Joseph is at a place where he sees clearly that at no time were his brothers, Potiphar, the prison warden or Pharaoh ever really in control. And, obviously, neither was he.
God is always in control… there is never a second or a situation or a person that is beyond his providence and specific plan. We can never see this very well while in the midst of a struggle or confusing situation, but as we look back the picture becomes clearer… as long as we keep God as the point of it all and not ourselves.
We want to write our own story, control each chapter and make sure we have what we think is a happy ending. What I am learning is that my life is not an autobiography and I’m not the star… I love that truth AND it makes for a much better story.
