Friday, August 2, 2019

Sparrows

Since you are so much more precious to God than a thousand flocks of sparrows, and since God knows you in every detail—down to the number of hairs on your head at this momentyou can be secure and unafraid of any person, and you have nothing to fear from God either. (Luke 12:7, VOICE)

Every day, your hair drops. God knows how many hairs are left on your head. And He also knows how many are growing back. He knows because He bothers to count them again. When it comes to you, He always has time for every little thing about you. God knows you intimately. He knows every small problem you are worried about and every single burden you have.

When you approach Him for help, He has all the time for you as if no one else exists. That is how valuable you are to Him and how absorbed He is in you. Your heavenly Father wants you to know that as long as something concerns you He does not overlook it. The greatest example of this in the Bible is Joseph in the Old Testament. Look at the details below of Joseph’s life to recognize how intimately God was involved in it (like He is ours):

·         Joseph’s place in the Patriarchal birth order was part of God’s plan (Genesis 30:22–24).

·         This means Rachel’s agonizing struggle with infertility was part of God’s plan (Genesis 30:1–2).

·         Jacob’s romantic preference of Rachel and therefore his (probably paternally insensitive) favoritism shown to Joseph was part of God’s plan (Genesis 29:30, 37:3).

·         Joseph’s prophetic dreams were (obviously) part of God’s plan (Genesis 37:5–11).

·         His brothers’ jealousy (note: sibling rivalry and family conflict) was part of God’s plan (Genesis 37:8).

·         His brothers’ evil, murderous, greedy betrayal of him, and Judah’s part in it, was part of God’s plan (Genesis 37:18–28, 50:20).

·         His brothers’ 20-plus year deception of Jacob regarding Joseph was part of God’s plan.

·         The existence of an evil slave trade at the time was part of God’s plan (Genesis 37:26–27).

·         Potiphar’s complicity with the slave trade and his position in Egypt was part of God’s plan (Genesis 37:36).

·         Joseph’s extraordinary administrative gifting was part of God’s plan (Genesis 39:2–4).

·         Joseph’s favor with Potiphar was part of God’s plan (Genesis 39:4–6).

·         Potiphar’s wife’s being given over to sexual immorality was part of God’s plan (Genesis 39:7–12, Romans 1:24).

·         Potiphar’s wife’s dishonesty was part of God’s plan (Genesis 39:13–18).

·         Potiphar’s unjust judgment of Joseph was part of God’s plan (Genesis 39:19–20).

·         The particular prison Joseph was sent to — the one that would receive the cupbearer and the baker — was part of God’s plan (Genesis 39:20).

·         Joseph’s favor with the prison warden was part of God’s plan (Genesis 39:21–23).

·         The high-level conspiracy and its exposure resulting in the imprisonment of Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker were part of God’s plan (Genesis 40:1–3).

·         Joseph’s appointment to care for them was part of God’s plan (Genesis 40:4).

·         The dreams the cupbearer and baker had were (obviously) part of God’s plan (Genesis 40:5).

·         Joseph’s compassionate care for their troubled hearts was part of God’s plan (Genesis 40:6–7).

·         Their trusting Joseph’s integrity enough to confide their dreams in him was part of God’s plan (Genesis 40:8–20).

·         Joseph discerning the meaning of their dreams was part of God’s plan (Genesis 40:12–13, 18–19).

·         The Egyptian judicial processes that exonerated the cupbearer and condemned the baker were part of God’s plan (Genesis 40:20–22).

·         The cupbearer failing to remember Joseph for two years was part of God’s plan (Genesis 40:23–41:1).

·         The timing of Pharaoh’s dreams was part of God’s plan (Genesis 41:1–7).

·         The inability of Pharaoh’s counselors to discern his dreams was part of God’s plan (Genesis 41:8).

·         The cupbearer remembering Joseph and having the courage to remind Pharaoh of a potentially suspicious event was part of God’s plan (Genesis 41:9–13).

·         Pharaoh’s being desperate enough to listen to a Hebrew prisoner was part of God’s plan (Genesis 41:14–15).

·         Joseph having discernment of Pharaoh’s dreams was part of God’s plan (Genesis 41:16–36).

·         The miraculous amount of immediate trust that Pharaoh placed in Joseph’s interpretation and counsel was part of God’s plan (Genesis 41:37–40).

·         Pharaoh’s gift of Asenath (an Egyptian) to Joseph as her wife was part of God’s plan (Genesis 41:45).

·         Joseph’s two sons by Asenath, Manasseh and Ephraim, were part of God’s plan (Genesis 41:50–52, 48:5).

·         The complex confluence of natural phenomena that caused the extraordinarily fruitful years followed by the extraordinarily desolate years, with all the resulting human prosperity and suffering, and the consolidation of Egyptian wealth and power in Pharaoh’s hands were part of God’s plan (Genesis 41:53–57; 47:13–26).

·         The threat of starvation that caused terrible fear and moved Jacob to send his sons to Egypt for grain was part of God’s plan (Genesis 42:1–2).

·         The brothers’ safe journey to Egypt and Benjamin’s non-participation was part of God’s plan (Genesis 42:3–4).

·         The brothers’ bowing to Joseph in unwitting fulfillment of the dreams they hated was part of God’s plan (Genesis 42:6).

·         Joseph’s whole scheme to test his brothers was part of God’s plan (Genesis 42:7–44:34).

·         Simeon’s being chosen to remain in Egypt was part of God’s plan (Genesis 42:24). Jacob’s refusal to release Benjamin to return to Egypt causing the delay of the brothers’ return and Simeon’s bewildering experience in custody was part of God’s plan (Genesis 42:38).

·         The relentless threat of starvation that prompted Judah to make his personal guarantee of Benjamin’s safe return and that forced Jacob to finally allow Benjamin go to Egypt was part of God’s plan (Genesis 43:8–14).

·         The success with which Joseph was able to continue to conceal his identity and pull off the framing of Benjamin for thievery and all the anguish the brothers experienced as a result was part of God’s plan (Genesis 43:15–44:17).

·         Judah’s willingness to exchange his life for Benjamin’s out of love for his father, and thus initiating his own sale into slavery like he initiated Joseph’s sale into slavery, was part of God’s plan (Genesis 44:18–34).

·         Joseph’s timing in revealing himself to his brothers was part of God’s plan (Genesis 45:1–15).

·         Jacob’s finding out from his sons of Joseph’s survival and position in Egypt (and the exposure of his sons’ 20-plus-year deceit with all the accompanying pain) was part of God’s plan (Genesis 45:25–28).

·         God’s directing Jacob to move to Egypt was (obviously) part of God’s plan (Genesis 46:2–4).

·         The relocation of the entire clan of Israel to Egypt, where they would reside and grow for 430 years and eventually become horribly enslaved, thus fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 15:13–14, was part of God’s plan (Genesis 46:5–47:12).

 “At this moment, each one of us is as close to God’s throne of grace as we choose to be.”
(Joyce Meyer) [i]




[i] Sources used:

·        “How Involved Is God in the Details of Your Life?” by Jon Bloom

 

·Jon Bloom

·@Bloom_Jon

·Jon Bloom serves as author, board chair, and co-founder of Desiring God. He is author of three books, Not by Sight, Things Not Seen, and Don’t Follow Your Heartand his wife have five children and make their home in the Twin Cities.

 
“God Knows You Intimately” by Joseph Prince
 
 
This topic was suggested by friend and blog member, Jan Bahr.







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