Are there times that you tend to believe that God isn’t working in your life? That He isn’t present? Then discover today how God’s hand is visible in your life and how He guides you!
Text: Irene Poot
As people we all received a free will from God. In other words: we ourselves can choose to make good or bad decisions. Unfortunately, this causes a lot of bad things to happen in the world. I can imagine that there are times you might think that God isn’t there at all in your life. That so many bad and nasty things have happened and that God’s hand is hard to find. Yet I want to encourage you today that God is at work and leads you.
God decides the direction
The fact that Gods hand is visible in your life, can be found in Proverbs:
“We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” (Proverbs 16:9, NLT)
“A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure.” (Proverbs 16:9, AMPC)
As people we all make plans and decisions. But in the end, it is God who decides what the outcome is going to be. This does not mean that we don’t have free will. That we are not free to choose at all, because God ‘makes something of it anyway’.
No, we can make choices freely. And sometimes these are good or bad decisions. And others can also make decisions at the expense of you. But God has the final consequences in hand. God decides where you will go with all these choices.
It is just like Google Maps. You often get multiple options for a route. Some routes differ in travel time or include toll roads or tunnels. But whichever one you choose, they all arrive at the same destination.
God’s hand in Joseph’s life
One of the stories from the Bible where you can clearly see this, is the story of Joseph. Joseph’s life is full of ups and downs. One moment, he is the favorite son of a rich man, the next moment he is sold as a slave to Potiphar. He practically becomes the manager of the whole house of Potiphar, just to be blamed afterwards and put in prison while he is not guilty. But eventually, he is released from prison and becomes one of the most important men in Egypt.
I am always amazed at how Joseph’s life keeps turning around. But in this, you can see clearly how God’s hand keeps working in Joseph’s life. Every time Joseph receives setbacks through other people. He is sold as a slave to go to Egypt by his brothers. He is thrown in prison through Potiphar’s wife.
But God does not lose Joseph and His plans with Joseph! Despite all these setbacks through other people’s choices, God turns it around for good.
Even his dreams that he had as a young man, that his brothers would bow down to him, come true. And I can imagine that Joseph would have forgotten these dreams during these ups and downs. Or that he just didn’t trust that they would come true anymore. But God made sure that all these setbacks eventually led to God’s great plan with Joseph.
God’s hand in your life
Sometimes it is hard to see God’s hand in your life. When you have had so many setbacks and it never seems to get better. Still, God can determine the direction and the consequences, even when you might see little of it!
God’s hand is still visible in your life. This might not always happen according to our timing. God’s timing can be very frustrating for that matter, because it can feel like ages before God is doing something. But trust that God’s hand is in your life. God is working and His hand doesn’t let you go!
Make it practical!
- Read the whole story of Joseph in Genesis 37, 39-41. What does this story tell you today?
- Look back on the last few years. Where did you see God’s hand in your life? Write this down, together with Proverbs 16:9, and put this somewhere where you can see it clearly.
This article earlier appeared on https://zijlacht.nl
