Life's Inanities and Ironies

  Brothers and sisters, few lives in Scripture display more violent and rapid change than the life of Joseph. One day he is the favored son wearing a coat of many colours. The next he is stripped, thrown into a pit, and sold to Ishmaelite traders. One day he is steward of Potiphar’s entire house. The next he is falsely accused and cast into prison. One day he is forgotten by the butler. The next he stands before Pharaoh and is made ruler over all the land of Egypt. Genesis 50:20 is the theological key that unlocks every reversal: “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.” The fundamentalist Christian must learn to read every sudden downturn through this lens. Men may mean it for evil. Circumstances may appear chaotic. But the sovereign God is never absent, never surprised, and never defeated. Joseph’s adaptation was not passive resignation. In Potiphar’s house he served with excellence. I...

In the pages of Scripture, we find stories that are not just historical accounts but living words that speak to our hearts today. Genesis 21:9-21 , the story of Hagar and Ishmael ’s expulsion into the wilderness, is one such passage. It reveals the unchanging truth of God’s sovereignty , compassion, and faithfulness, even in the midst of human conflict and despair. As believers who hold fast to the inerrancy of God’s Word , let us dive into this text to uncover its timeless lessons for our lives. A Family Divided: The Context of Genesis 21 The story begins in the household of Abraham , the father of our faith, whose obedience to God is a model for us all ( Heb. 11:8 ). Yet, even Abraham’s family was not immune to the effects of sin. Sarah , seeing Ishmael , the son of Hagar, mocking Isaac , the child of God’s promise, demands their expulsion: “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac” ( Gen. 21:10 ). This is a heart-wre...

“ Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:5-7) The words of Jeremiah ring as true today as they did in the days of old. God sets before us a stark contrast: two paths, two choices, two destinies. One is the way of the man who trusts in flesh, whose heart departs from the Lord. The other is the way of the man whose hope is the Lord, rooted in His eternal strength. These are not mere words—they are a...