12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:12-13 (LSB)
God is Sovereign. He has not surrendered any of His sovereignty to any of His creatures, and that includes Man. My Pastor has been preaching through the story of Joseph from the Book of Genesis for the last several weeks. It is obvious to all that God was in complete control of all of those things that happened to Joseph that culminated in his becoming Prime Minister of Egypt during one of the worst famines to ever hit that area….
Joseph didn’t just happen to be found by a man who knew that the sons of Jacob had moved to Dothan. Joseph didn’t just happen to come upon his brothers. The caravan of traders didn’t just happen to come by as Joseph’s brothers decided to sell him into slavery. Potiphar, the Captain of Pharaoh’s Guard, didn’t just happen to buy Joseph. It also didn’t just happen that Joseph ended up in prison with the King’s prisoners for a crime he didn’t commit.