God’s sovereignty is worked out in sometimes mysterious providence.

Ps 121:1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. 3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. 4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails” (Proverbs 19:21). By itself, of course, this might mean no more than that the Lord proves to be a superb chess player! Yet this verse is linked to an important set of passages (e.g., 20:24) that demand we think more deeply than that. For instance:

“The LORD works out everything for his own ends—even the wicked for a day of disaster” (16:4).. This is not a dualist universe in which two autonomous principles operate, one good and one evil. While there is a basic distinction between good and evil, yet God’s sovereignty reigns, through whatever mysterious means, so that even the wicked serve his purposes—not least his purposes in judgment. Paul reflects on the same theme (Rom. 9:22).

22What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction:

“In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps” (16:9). Human beings are responsible for what they choose and what they do; the entire book of Proverbs maintains this perspective, for otherwise the fundamental chasms between wisdom and folly, good and evil, the fear of the Lord and haughty arrogance, could not be sustained. Yet at the same time, even with all the plotting in the world a mere human cannot escape the sweep of divine sovereignty. Elsewhere we are told, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases” (21:1).

“The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD” (16:33).

My Father is still working, and I am working.… I assure you: The Son is not able to do anything on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son also

does these things in the same way. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him everything He is doing. (John 5:17, 19–20)

TRUSTING GOD’S PROVIDENCE is not to be confused with succumbing to fatalism. It is not a resigned sigh of Que sera, sera—“What will be, will be.” This Joseph understood (Gen. 40).
Joseph himself is under no illusion as to the source of his powers. “Do not interpretations belong to God?” he asks (40:8). Even before Pharaoh, where he might have been expected to slant his explanations just a little so as to enhance his own reputation, Joseph will later insist even more emphatically that he cannot himself interpret dreams; God alone can do it (41:16, 25).

Yet despite this unswerving loyalty to God, despite this candid confession of his own limitations, despite the sheer tenacity and integrity of his conduct under unjust suffering, Joseph does not confuse God’s providence with fatalism.

Joseph is quite prepared to tell his predicament to the cupbearer (the servant who will be released in three days and restored to the court) in the hope that he might be released (40:14–15).

Joseph’s faith in God does not mean that he becomes entirely passive. He takes open action to effect improvement in his circumstances, provided that action is stamped with integrity.
When he briefly describes the circumstances that brought him into prison, Joseph does not hide the sheer evil that was done. He insists he “was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews” (40:15).

There is more than one way to relegate God to the sidelines of history. Some do so by arguing that God acts intermittently. When good things happen, that’s God; when bad things happen, that’s the devil—and there is no sense in which God remains sovereign over the devil.
Others argue that God’s providence arches over everything, but invariably in line with what takes place in the natural order.

Even after sin savages the relationship between human beings and their Maker, it is God who clothes them (Gen. 3:21)—the first instance of his peculiar care for and “covering” of his people. At issue is not only God’s care displayed in providential rule over all of God’s creation, but that special care that calls an Abraham (Genesis 12) and then watches over his ways, tests him and refines him (chap. 22), provides for the family in time of necessity (chaps. 37–50)—all in preparation of a new people, the children of Israel, from whom Messiah springs, and the means by which all peoples on earth will be blessed (Gen. 12:3).

THE TRINITY

Although we may have difficulty understanding it, God the Father, Christ the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are all three persons of one Godhead. They are not three separate gods. They are all one God. Our finite minds may struggle to comprehend such a majestic and infinite existence.

The Scriptures reveal that whenever God encountered people, He did it in one of three ways: in the person of the Father, the Son, or the Spirit. Whenever God is working, all three persons of the Trinity are involved.

Philip asked, “Show us the Father,” and Jesus responded, “Have I been among you all this time without your knowing Me, Philip? The one who has seen Me has seen the Father.… Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on My own. The Father who lives in Me does His works” (John 14:9–10).

GOD INVOLVES US

Joseph himself is under no illusion as to the source of his powers. “Do not interpretations belong to God?” he asks (40:8). Even before Pharaoh, where he might have been expected to slant his explanations just a little so as to enhance his own reputation, Joseph will later insist even more emphatically that he cannot himself interpret dreams; God alone can do it (41:16, 25).

Jesus recognized that His Father is always working on earth to accomplish His divine purposes. God did not create the world and then abandon it to run itself. He is present and in the middle of human activity. God is actively at work redeeming a lost world, and He chooses to involve His servants in carrying out His redemptive plans.

Paul explored this truth in a letter to the church at Corinth: Therefore if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ; certain that God is appealing through us. (2 Cor. 5:17–20)

Therefore, since the Father is at work reconciling the world to Himself and since He has chosen to carry out that reconciliation through His people,

What are we to do?

How are we to respond to that commission? If we go back to Christ’s words in John 5, we find a clear model in the way the Lord Jesus approached knowing and doing the Father’s will.

• The Father has been working all along.
• Now the Father has Me working.
• I do nothing on My own initiative.
• I watch to see what the Father is doing.
• I do what I see the Father is doing.
• The Father loves Me.
• He shows Me everything that He, Himself, is doing.

There is a link constantly in Paul between signs of spiritual growth and what he prays for. Most of his prayers are tied to news he has heard about how well things are going. Pray for what God is doing. You see the hand of God at work? Pray he’ll do some more, that he’ll keep on going. That’s where the Devil is going to work, so pray for what God is doing. Don’t just wait until things are falling apart and then have an emergency prayer meeting. That is typical of many, many of Paul’s prayers.

THE FATHER WORKS THROUGH JESUS

Do we realize that? All of God’s providence in our life; all of God’s providence in Kabul, Afghanistan; all of God’s providence in Israel, Gaza, Nigeria; all of God’s providence in the farthest reaches of the universe is mediated through Christ, for Paul says he must reign until he has put all of his enemies under his feet, and the last enemy that will be destroyed is death itself.

Small wonder Jesus says before the words of the Great Commission, “All authority is given to me in heaven and on earth.” Oh, he is the King. His reign is still contested, but he is the King. And one day, there will no longer be any contest at all.

That is why Christians today can put up with sickness and suffering and bereavement and loss and discouragement. Because they still trust their King. This King, who is not only trustworthy because of his stature as God, his sovereignty, his goodness, his justice, but also trustworthy because he has loved us even to the cross.

Jesus often spoke about His relationship with the Father and His dependence on the Father to show Him what to do. Jesus made it clear that the Father initiated the relationship and invited the Son to be involved in His activity. The Father revealed His plan and the Son joined the Father where He was at work. Jesus spoke several times about this relationship:
“My teaching is not Mine but is from the One who sent Me.” (John 7:16)

“The words I speak to you I do not speak on My own. The Father who lives in Me does His works.” (John 14:10)

“The words that You gave Me, I have given them.” (John 17:8)

Later, Peter affirmed that the heavenly Father worked through His Son. He described the Son: “This Jesus the Nazarene was a man pointed out to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through Him” (Acts 2:22).

Jesus realized that He could do nothing by Himself. Yet with the Father at work in Him, He could do anything. If Jesus was that dependent on the Father, then you and I should realize how ludicrous it is for us to set out on our own without any direction or guidance from the Father.

Watching For God’s working where we are

A biblical example of this truth is found in the book of Luke. When Jesus passed through a crowd, He always looked for where the Father was at work. The crowd was not the harvest field. The harvest field was within the crowd. Jesus always looked for the activity of the Father and joined Him.

God is always active

Right now, God is working all around us. One of the greatest tragedies among God’s people is that even though they long to experience Him, they do not know how to recognize Him at work in their midst.

These are extremely exciting days to be walking with the Lord! You don’t want to miss out on what He is doing. The Holy Spirit will instruct you and help you know when and where God is working. Once you know where He is working, you can adjust your life to join Him in His divine purposes.

First, a love relationship

Anticipate that the first thing God will do in your life is to draw you into an intimate love relationship with Himself. When your relationship with God is as it should be, He will begin giving you assignments at His initiative. Whenever it seems that God is not doing anything fresh in your life, focus on the love relationship and stay there until God gives you a new assignment.

Focus on the privilege of God wanting to use us, not our gifts

Some people feel that people today are taking an unbiblical approach to spiritual gifts. A common teaching is that people should “discover” their spiritual gifts and then find a ministry or activity that specifically utilizes their gifting. But this assumes Christians will always keep the same gift, and that once they discern their gifts, they should accept ministry opportunities that match the gift and decline any ministry that is not supported by their particular gift. Tragedy

It is important to understand that a spiritual gift is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit working in people’s lives to enable them to obey what God asks them to do. Biblically, God always gives the assignment first. Then God equips the person by the Holy Spirit to accomplish what He assigns.

When the Spirit resides in us, we have all the power of God and the resources of heaven at our disposal. When God gives us a task and we obey, God will carry out what He intended through our lives. The evidence of God’s activity in our lives is what we usually identify as a spiritual gift.

Focusing on identifying gifts instead of determining what God’s assignment is can also be severely limiting for believers who base their future usefulness for God only on their past effectiveness. The way many people teach about spiritual gifts is that God will always use your life in similar ways, according to whatever gift He has built into you.

For example, if God previously equipped someone to teach His word, then he will assume his spiritual gift is teaching and will decline opportunities later that involve different gifts such as administration or mercy.

The common approach to spiritual gifts can easily become self-centered rather than God-centered if you are the one who is taking the initiative to decide on a ministry that you think suits you. God does not ask us to find ministries we think match our giftedness.

Often when people focus solely on what they perceive to be their spiritual gifts, they assume that any ministry in their church or life that matches their gifting is something they should undertake.

We can’t figure that out on our own. We can’t discover God’s activity; God must reveal it to us. We don’t choose what we will do for God; He invites us to join Him where He wants to involve us.

Ask God to help you understand the relationship between a God-given assignment and a spiritual gift. It will be helpful to consider some biblical examples in which the Lord called His servants and then equipped them to do what He commanded.

The Old Testament Pattern

The Old Testament lays the foundation for our understanding of the Holy Spirit’s work in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit did not continually reside within believers. Rather, the Spirit would come upon individuals to enable them to achieve a specific assignment God had given them. Moses had an assignment as an administrator and national religious leader. Moses, however, was quite certain he was unqualified for this assignment, so he argued at length with God (see Exod. 3:11–4:17).

God knew exactly what He was doing when He called Moses. Moses’ success did not depend on his skills, abilities, likes, preferences, or past successes. First, God gave Moses an assignment, and then God equipped him with His Holy Spirit to administer and to lead.

When David was a young shepherd boy, God called him to be a king. How could he possibly govern Israel in a tumultuous and dangerous time when he was only an inexperienced young shepherd? However, the Holy Spirit came upon David and equipped him to be his nation’s greatest king.

Here is the pattern we see in the Old Testament:

God gave an assignment to a person.
The Holy Spirit equipped that person to perform the assignment.
The proof of the Spirit’s presence was that the person was able to complete the assignment effectively through the enabling of the Holy Spirit.

Devoted but not equipped

I believe one of the most significant roles of a church staff is to help people understand where God is assigning them to serve in the body so they can experience the joy of God working powerfully through them to accomplish what only He can do.

The Holy Spirit Equips

First Corinthians 12:7 says: “A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial.” The Holy Spirit does not give believers a gift. The Holy Spirit is A gift! (see Acts 2:38). The Spirit reveals Himself to each member for the common good of the body.

The Holy Spirit does not work in people’s lives merely for their own personal edification but so the body of Christ can be built up and strengthened.

Jesus said: “The Father who lives in Me does His works” (John 14:10).

A spiritual gift is a manifestation of God at work through you. God works in and through you to bear spiritual fruit.

Many Christians have made use of what is called a “spiritual gifts inventory.” This does not mean, however, that this is the only means by which God expects the person to serve in the future.

Focus your attention on hearing God’s call to an assignment which is His invitation for you to join Him.

God is always at work in His world. He seeks to bring every person into a personal relationship with Himself through Jesus Christ. Jesus described the way He knew and did the will of His Father. Because the Father loved His Son, He showed the Son what He was doing. Jesus watched to see where the Father was working and joined Him. You can follow that same pattern by watching to see where God is at work around you. When He shows you, join Him in His work. Keep your attention on God’s call to an assignment rather than on your spiritual gifts, personal desires, skills, abilities, or resources. Once you understand God’s call to an assignment, obey Him, and He will work through you to accomplish His divine, eternal purposes.