The Providence of God

If God is good, why does He allow evil to touch our lives?

In this study of Genesis 45, Dr. Toby Holt stands with Joseph as he faces the very brothers who sold him into slavery. Few men ever had more reason for revenge; yet Joseph sees a hand above his brothers' hands. Dr. Holt defines providence — God's sovereign, purposeful governance of all things — and shows that it includes hardship, not merely happy circumstances.

Joseph's later words become the lens: "You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good." God ordains even the wicked acts of others to accomplish His saving purposes, without being the author of their sin. This is the deep comfort of providence — that no betrayal, no delay, and no heartache ever falls outside the good and sovereign purpose of God.

Questions this study answers:

1. What is providence? God's continual, sovereign, and purposeful governing of all His creatures and all their actions, directing everything toward His own good ends.

2. Why didn't Joseph take revenge? Because he recognized God's overruling purpose in his suffering and trusted God, rather than himself, as the true governor of his story.

3. Does providence include evil and hardship? Yes. God sovereignly works even through the sinful acts of others for good — as He did in Joseph's life, and supremely at the cross. "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive." — Genesis 50:20 (NKJV)

Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt is the President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, a Reformed seminary in Colorado Springs. He is known for clear, down-to-earth Bible teaching, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio. Listen and go deeper: This study is part of New Geneva Theological Seminary's teaching on systematic theology and the great doctrines of the Christian faith. Find more verse-by-verse teaching across the Bible at newgeneva.org. To support this teaching ministry, visit newgeneva.org/give.