When We Don't Understand (Finding God Faithful)

As you read today’s passage, be on the lookout for God’s providential hand throughout the narrative. It’s easy for us to think of God as being “way up there” in the heavens on His end of the universe while we plod along in our daily lives with little intervention from Him. But here in Genesis, long before the incarnation of Jesus, we see God at work on earth. We see Him moving in specific locations on the map, guiding people, orchestrating events, and working out His covenant promises.

Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word.” So he sent him from the Valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. And a man found him wandering in the fields. And the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” “I am seeking my brothers,” he said. “Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” And the man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him. They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore. And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it. Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt. – Genesis 37:12-28 ESV

Little did Jacob know when he sent his beloved son Joseph on a journey to find his brothers, Jacob wouldn’t see Joseph again for more than twenty years. And he would never again see Joseph in the land of Canaan.

Joseph was sold for twenty pieces of silver and trafficked to the land of Egypt. What could seem more contrary to God’s sovereign plan than Joseph being sold to a godless nation far away from Canaan, the land of Promise?

After reading today’s portion of Joseph’s story it seems as though God has lost control. It appeared Joseph was being kicked around the landscape like a rubber ball on an elementary playground. His father sent him to Shechem, a mysterious man redirected him to Dothan, and then his brothers, after deciding not to kill him, secured him a one-way ticket to Egypt by way of Ishmaelite traders.

The story appears senseless. Reckless. Out of control. Could God’s providential hand still be at work in Joseph’s life? Is it possible that what appears to be nothing but a tangle of other people’s agendas will somehow be the very ball of yarn God will use to weave one of the most redemptive masterpieces in human history? Could it be that God has not abandoned Joseph but has actually gone with him?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? – Isaiah 58:7 ESV

We won’t solve the problem of why a good God allows suffering, nor will we fully understand God’s sovereignty. But my prayer is that we’ll better understand both suffering and sovereignty from the perspective of God’s Word, so that we’ll see His hand more clearly and trust His heart more deeply. Our God is good.