The little hands and the big hand are both involved in what happens on earth. The little hand is the human hand (the free will of man) and the big hand is God's hand (the sovereignty of God). When the little hands are doing their dirty work, it's hard to see God's hand being in charge. Let's look at the little hands and the big hand in Joseph's situation.After Joseph's brothers used their dirty little hands to throw him into the pit, they look up and see a group of traders coming by. Instead of killing him, which was their original plan, they decided to make some money by selling him as a slave (Gen. 37:25-28).
Here we see God’s big hand at work. What are the odds that a group of traders would come to them at just the right time? If they had come a day before or a day after, they would not have met them. It they had traveled a mile to their right or a mile to their left, they would not have met. But they came down the exact path where the pit was, and at just the right time. Even though the traders didn’t know that God was leading them, His big hand was clearly guiding them.
God was going to exalt Joseph to be a ruler in Egypt, but he had to get there first. His brothers weren’t going to take him there. And so these Midianites come by and guess where they “just happened” to be going? Egypt! What are the odds? This looks like a chance meeting, but it wasn’t. This was a divine appointment so Joseph could get transported to Egypt. Many times what looks like ordinary circumstances to us can be events directed by the big hand of God.
The little hands pulled him out of the pit and took 20 shekels of silver for him. His brothers were evil, but God was using their dirty little hands to accomplish His purposes. God sees the big picture and once all the dots were connected, He would make Joseph a ruler.
What have the dirty little hands done to you? Stop looking at what the little hands are doing and keep your eye on God's big hand. He will work all things together for good. It will make the difference between living in misery and living with joy!
