The Connections We Cannot See

and he sent a man before them—
Joseph, sold as a slave.
They bruised his feet with shackles,
his neck was put in irons,
till what he foretold came to pass,
till the word of the LORD proved him true.
Psalm 105:17–19 NIV

Have you ever looked back and wondered how your life might have turned out if one thing had happened differently, or someone had made a different choice? A decision someone else made that affected you, a conversation you almost missed, or a disappointment that changed your plans may have set something in motion you never imagined. All the while, other people were making choices of their own, unaware of how their lives might intersect with yours. What if those connections matter far more than we realize?

Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, yet the psalmist says God “sent a man before them.” And Joseph wasn't the only one whose future unfolded through the unexpected choices of others. Pharaoh, Egypt's ruler, ordered Hebrew baby boys killed. A desperate mother hid her infant in a basket along the Nile. Pharaoh's daughter found him and chose to save him. His sister, watching nearby, arranged for their mother to nurse him. That child was Moses, who would one day lead the Hebrew people out of Egypt. A ruler's cruelty, a mother's courage, a sister's quick thinking, and a princess's compassion converged in a purpose none of them could have anticipated.

Yet behind these remarkable outcomes were people suffering because of choices others had made. The psalmist tells us, “They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons.” Joseph lived through those years without knowing how his life would touch the lives of others. Isn't that often how life unfolds? We see the immediate consequences of someone's decision, but seldom the countless ways it may eventually touch other lives. Neither Joseph nor his brothers could see what lay ahead. Yet God's purposes were reaching beyond their understanding, toward people and needs they could not yet imagine.

We often wonder what will happen when someone else's decisions change the direction of our lives. A new supervisor arrives with different plans, or a family member makes a choice that alters our future. We may have little say in either. Yet Proverbs 21:1 describes even a ruler's heart as “a stream of water” in God's hand. The person who seems to hold all the power is not beyond God's reach. A decision made behind closed doors may change everything we expected, but it cannot place our lives beyond the reach of God's purposes.

Perhaps there's freedom in realizing that we don't have to understand how everything fits together. We can make plans, encounter unexpected changes, and sometimes find ourselves moving in directions we never would have chosen. But God's purposes aren't confined by those decisions. And what if that changes how we greet tomorrow? Instead of needing to know where every road leads, we can discover the quiet confidence of walking with the One whose purposes are larger than anything we can arrange or anticipate. What possibilities might be opening where we least expect them?

Prayer

Father, thank You that Your purposes reach beyond what I can see or understand. Help me trust Your goodness when others' choices change my plans, and rest in Your loving care. Amen.