God’s Redemptive Plan

Recently, I have been thinking of how God’s sovereignty has been at work in my life. He is continually working in my life, and all of our lives, to make us more like Christ. For those of you who have not heard my story, I would like to share about how God has redeemed some crazy circumstances in my life into a story that brings Him glory.

I am a third-generation pastor’s kid, so I grew up in church. My whole life I have been surrounded by pastors in the family. My grandpa, my dad, many of my uncles, and even my brother, from the age of 6, knew he wanted to be a pastor. I, on the other hand, never wanted to be a pastor. I was a bit of a shy kid and would often get stage fright. I knew that God had a plan and a purpose for my life, I just didn’t know what it was going to be. I had no clue all through high school what I wanted to do with my life, or even what God wanted me to do. Therefore, I made up my mind that until God told me what to do; I was going to make my own plans.

I planned to move to Arizona to pursue a career as a professional golfer. I loved playing golf, and it brought me great joy, so that is what I had decided to do. I was 17 years old my senior year, and that spring, as I graduated, and was getting ready to go off to college, my family went through a crazy season. My dad was accused of a crime he didn’t commit, and he lost his job as a pastor. This caused my parents to file for bankruptcy that summer. I was not able to sign for any loans myself, since I was still only 17 years old, so my plan of going to Arizona was crushed. With no plans of what I was going to do, I went on the summer missions trip to Swaziland, Africa with my youth group. It was on this mission’s trip that God called me into ministry. When I got home, I knew that I had to join an internship at my church and start working in ministry.

When I look back over this season in my life, it is easy to see how God was working through the chaos and the real struggles that my family was going through. At the time I felt lost, alone, and purposeless. I had no hope, no plan, and no clue what it was that God wanted me to do. I had no idea what I even wanted to do. Whenever I find myself in a similar situation, where I feel like things are going wrong, or I have no control of what is happening, I find that the story of Joseph inspires me.

Joseph was the son of Jacob. He was the favorite son out of his 11 other brothers. This caused his brothers to hate him. One day they beat him, threw him into a well, and then sold him as a slave to Egypt. Talk about feeling lost, alone, and having no control! He ends up in the home of Potiphar and works his way up to being the manager of Potiphar’s whole household. Then he is falsely accused of rape by Potiphar’s wife and is thrown into prison. Years later, he has the opportunity to appear before Pharaoh to interpret his dreams. Joseph is then placed as second in command of all of Egypt! He is later reunited with his brothers, and this is what he tells them in Genesis 50:19-20.

“But Joseph said to them, “Don’t 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.”

What inspiring words! No matter what is going on in your life, you will always find that God is there with you. If you will let him, He can work anything for your good. It might take time for you to see God using the circumstances you have found yourself in, and making them into something to give God glory. God does promise that He can work all things for the good of those that love him.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

I am not trying to diminish what you are going through or that it is not painful. Some things are unbearable for us to handle on our own, and we aren’t meant to deal with them on our own. It is at these moments that we need to lean into God more. That is when He can start moving in your life. If we trust Him and have faith in Him, He will never leave us or forsake us. He never left Joseph in the bottom of the well, when he was a slave, or when he was in prison. God was with Joseph the whole time. He used the horrible decisions other people made to place Joseph into a position where he could save many lives.

So my question for you is this: Will you put your faith in God when things do not go your way and circumstances get out of control? Will you let God redeem your tragedy into something you can use to bring God glory?