The Wampanoag people lived in what today is Massachusetts. In the early 1600’s, European traders arrived. The traders captured some of the unsuspecting people, transported them to Spain, and sold them into slavery. Among them was a boy named Squanto.
In time, Squanto embraced the Christian faith and learned English. After ten years, Squanto returned from across the Atlantic only to find his village gone. All had died. One year later, a ship arrived, bringing English families to live in the New World. They must have been shocked to be greeted by someone speaking English! Squanto became their friend and guide, helping them survive. Squanto lived out the remainder of his life with his new friends.
Here is a human being who suffered at the hands of other people. Through that harsh life experience, Squanto came to believe in the eternal God. In His Providence, God prepared him to sustain the lives of Englishmen, who were of the same people who had enslaved him.
This is not unlike the Genesis story of Joseph. Mistreated by his brothers, sold into slavery, suffering multiple injustices. Unbeknownst to his family, Joseph became the ruler in Egypt who sustained the people during a famine. His story comes to a climax when his father died and his brothers feared retribution. But no. He told them, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive” (Gen. 50:20). Joseph looked back at a life of hardship and affliction, but what he saw was the providential hand of a loving God.
Joseph’s story taught the people what to expect in their future Messiah. He would be mistreated, misunderstood, and rejected by those who should have loved Him most. He was betrayed unto death. But the Father knew that would happen. It was integral to His divine plan to preserve the souls of those who would repent and believe.
God’s Providence has personal implications for you. Not just for eternity, but for now. God knows about all the sparrows, and numbers the hairs of your head. If “you are more valuable than many sparrows” (Matt. 10:31), then God knows the smallest details of your life. He has already considered those in His plan to accomplish His will for you. If He knows the details, He also knows the anxiety, suffering, and injustice you have endured, some of which are due to your own moral failures. Yet he loves you and invites you to come to Him, submitting your will to His, learning to trust His ways.
The early settlers had much to be thankful for. So did Joseph’s people. You do, too, by faith in the One who loves you and gave Himself up for you.