The Hand of God by Alistair Begg

Author:Alistair Begg [Begg, Alistair]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Moody Publishers
Published: 2019-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

The Importance of a God-Focused Life

We pointed to this verse in the previous chapter as evidence that Joseph’s entire existence was God-focused, not self-focused. We will see this same quality in Genesis 41:51–52, when we read that Joseph named his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim. The boys’ names mean, respectively, “one who causes to forget,” and “fruitful,” because Joseph was acknowledging that God had caused him to forget his sufferings and had made him fruitful in Egypt. In other words, you could not even meet Joseph’s family without being reminded how keenly aware Joseph was of God’s providential dealings with him. The imprint of God’s hand was everywhere in Joseph’s life.

It is no surprise, then, that in the matter of Pharaoh’s dream, God was the first word on Joseph’s lips. In verse 25, he says to Pharaoh, “God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do”; and again, in verse 32, he says, “The matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.”

These verses express Joseph’s core conviction about the fact of God’s providence. He recognized that God determines what is going to happen according to His will, for His glory, and for the good of His people. All the way through the account of Joseph’s life, this remarkable man acknowledged that God was the speaker of His word and the doer of His works. This is crucial to reaffirm in a world where, for the past thirty years, God has been downsized and people exalted.

Joseph’s perspective was unmistakable—and he was not alone in emphasizing God’s sovereign hand. We read in Isaiah 45:5, “I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God.” We read of wisdom in Proverbs 8:15–16: “By me [wisdom] kings reign … by me princes govern.”

Why would unbelieving men and women seek to deny the declaration of the God who rules all? After all, written into their very being is an awareness of God and a sense of eternity. They have at least the sneaking suspicion that Isaiah 45:5 is true.

The problem is people’s refusal to acknowledge the God who made them, and thus their denial of His sovereign rule: “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Rom. 1:21). Joseph was a wonder because he recognized God’s sovereign, overruling power. Look also at Isaiah 45: “It is I who made the earth and created mankind on it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts” (Isa. 45:12).

“I’m in charge!”—that’s what God is saying. He was in charge of Joseph’s circumstances and of Pharaoh’s dreams, and He is in charge today. This is so contrary to the prevailing worldview; it is diametrically opposed to the thinking we live with day in, day out.

The challenge is always this: Are men and women going to allow the Word of God to sit in

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