"The Invisible Hand"

God is in control! Or is He?

Do I really believe that God is in control? If so, to what extent?

Does He superintend the "small" things as well as the "big" things?

I recall a saying that I have heard several times that goes something like this...

"For want of the nail the shoe was lost
For want of the shoe the horse was lost
For want of the horse the rider was lost
For want of the rider the battle was lost
For want of the battle the war was lost"

This really makes me think about the place of seemingly insignificant things in regards to the "big picture" and I am confronted with the precision of God's governance.
Are there any insignificant events in life?
Is it right to classify things or experiences as "trivial"?
Is God a God of the details?

I am reminded of one of the classic biblical examples of God's providence. The example I have in mind is the account of the life of Joseph.
When one ponders the various elements that brought Joseph to prominence in Egypt, it is evident that God was in the details.
These individual elements, though likely perceived as negative occurrences in and of themselves, produced a deliverer for a great multitude of people!
Joseph clearly understood this as he acknowledges God's invisible hand in the events of his life. He declares to his brethren......"Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life."
"And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God......" (Gen.45:5,7-8)

"But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive." (Gen.50:20)

What about us? Has God changed? Has His power and control diminished?
Is not the same invisible hand moving over and around us? What a thought!

To know that my life is being shaped, moved, and aligned toward God's good meaning and purpose is a strong rock and consolation!
I do not live by chance or by blind fate but by the Sovereign hand of the God who rules in heaven and earth!