The Tools of God’s Trade

God works in mysterious ways. Sometimes the blessings he gives bring about the discomforts we try to avoid; sometimes those very discomforts are his blessings, albeit in disguise. That being true, establish in your heart as settled law that God uses everything—pleasant or unpleasant—for his glory and your blessing, and never let it be challenged when your circumstances take an unexpected and undesired turn. And when they do, keep your eyes fixed on the sovereign Lord, for though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.

The Journey// Focus: Exodus 1:6-9

Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them. Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become much too numerous for us.”

The purpose of Exodus 1 is to set up the story told in the rest of Exodus clear through the book of Deuteronomy—the delivery and birth of the nation of Israel. Specifically, this first chapter sets the stage for Israel’s misery under Pharaoh and the rise of their leader, Moses.

Now the greatness and power of God demonstrated through the deliverance of Israel from Egypt along with the incredible leadership skills that were developed in Moses through the life-changing encounters he had with God would not have been possible without chapter one of Exodus: The descent of Israel into Egyptian bondage.

Of course, that reminds us of an undeniable and sometimes uncomfortable truth about God: He works in mysterious ways. Sometimes the blessings he gives us bring about the discomforts we try to avoid; sometimes those very discomforts are the blessings, albeit in disguise. We saw this powerfully illustrated in Genesis, where God sovereignly preserved Jacob’s family from famine in Egypt only by first sovereignly allowing Joseph to be sold into slavery in Egypt years earlier.

We find in Exodus 1:1-14 that God has blessed Jacobs’ family in such an extraordinary way that they literally become a great nation. Yet those very blessings—their explosive growth and economic prosperity—are the things that threaten Israel’s host nation, Egypt, who ultimately responds by forcing the Israelites into slavery and bondage.

God’s blessings end up causing Israel great discomfort and hardship—but in all of this God is setting the stage for a deliverer, Moses, whose story we will read in Exodus 2.

So what is the greater point to all of this? God’s blessings sometimes bring discomfort. However, discomfort is often the seedbed from which God’s greater blessing grows.

We must come to understand, in spite of unwanted and uncomfortable circumstances, that God is faithful—always. We need to establish that truth in our hearts and minds ahead of time, never permitting that settled law to be challenged when our circumstances take an unexpected and undesired turn. We need to learn to keep our eyes fixed on the faithfulness of God during those times of difficulty. I love how the hymn-writer, Maltbie Babcock, so eloquently put it in his hymn, This Is My Father’s World,”

This is my Father’s world, O let me ne’er forget; that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the Ruler yet.

And not only is God faithful, he is also watchful. Even when the storms of life prevent you from seeing God, he sees you.

Furthermore, not only is God faithful and watchful, never forget that he is always at work. Even in Israel’s years of bondage and slavery, God is preparing to reveal his glory and his greatness at a future time in ways unmatched even to this day. So even when it seems like God is not in our circumstances, we can be assured that he is at work, setting the stage for a greater purpose that could only be revealed as a result of what we are experiencing in the present. As Henry Ward Beecher said, “Troubles are often the tools by which God fashions us for better things.”

Got any troubles at the moment? Just remember, they are God’s tool! And when he is through crafting you, you are going to make quite a fashion statement.