If you’re not familiar with John Newton, the slave trader turned pastor, writer of the well-loved hymn “Amazing Grace,” I recommend you read the story of how God “saved a wretch like him” in his short spiritual autobiography, The Life & Spirituality of John Newton: An Authentic Narrative.
In my latest read of Newton’s book, I was struck by his reflection on the “seemingly fortuitous circumstances” in his early life that he assigned no great meaning to at the time, but that, looking back, he could clearly see had been intricately woven together in a pattern that would ultimately lead to his salvation and a fruitful life for God—including circumstances resulting from his own sin:
I was governed by present appearances and looked no further. But he, who is eyes to the blind, was leading me in a way that I knew not.
Now I am in some measure enlightened, I can easily perceive that it is in the adjustment and concurrence of these seemingly fortuitous circumstances, that the ruling power and wisdom of God is most evidently displayed in human affairs. How many such casual events may we remark in the history of Joseph, which had each a necessary influence in his ensuing promotion! If he had not dreamed, or if he had not told his dream; if the Midianites had passed by a day sooner or a day later; if they had sold him to any person but Potiphar; if his mistress had been a better woman; if Pharaoh’s officers had not displeased their lord; or if any, or all these things had fallen out in any other manner or time than they did, all that followed had been prevented: the promises and purposes of God concerning Israel, their bondage, deliverances, polity, and settlement, must have failed; and, as all these things tended to, and centred in Christ, the promised Saviour, the desire of all nations would not have appeared; mankind had been still in their sins, without hope, and the counsels of God’s eternal love in favour of sinners defeated. Thus we may see a connection between Joseph’s first dream and the death of our Lord Christ, with all its glorious consequences. So strong, though secret, is the concatenation between the greatest and the smallest events. What a comfortable thought is this to a believer to know, that amidst all the various interfering designs of men, the Lord has one constant design which he cannot, will not miss, namely, his own glory in the complete salvation of his people; and that he is wise, and strong, and faithful, to make even those things, which seem contrary to this design, subservient to promote it.
How many millions of small decisions in the lives of Joseph and the people around him determined the overall direction of his life! Without each one, the line of Abraham would not have been preserved, the Messiah would not have come, and God’s promises would have failed. We think of God as being sovereign over the big things, forgetting that it’s the little things that add up to the big things in the end. It all matters to God. He is always working.
Maybe things in your life aren’t going the way you would like them to go. Maybe you failed significantly this year. Maybe you feel like you’re wandering in a purposeless wilderness. But don’t be “governed by present appearances”! The truth is far better: God “works all things after the counsel of his will” (Eph. 1:11). You can’t mess up his plan. And there is a plan, even in the small things, even when you can’t see it, even in circumstances caused by your own sin.
It took Newton many years to recognize how carefully and purposefully God had orchestrated his life—just as it took Joseph many years. Just as it takes all of us many years. And there are many things we won’t see until God shows us at the end of time. So, for now, we look at God’s historical record—at the lives of people like Joseph and Newton and at our own past—to remind ourselves that God’s words in Ephesians 1:11 are true. And we will see for ourselves someday that, as Newton said, “He is wise, and strong, and faithful, to make even those things, which seem contrary to this design, subservient to promote it.”