Philemon 15-16

For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave – a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
Philemon 15-16

As Paul makes the case to his friend Philemon to go easy on his runaway slave, Onesimus, he makes a point that hopefully Philemon would consider. That is, God was in this entire situation from the very beginning! “Hey Philemon, maybe this whole thing was arranged by God so that you might receive him forever as a brother and not a slave.”

You see, when Onesimus ran away, he ran away to Rome. Of all the people in Rome he could have met up with, he meets up with Paul. Paul, the super Christian who knew his master Philemon. So here is the deal: it may have defied all odds in the eyes of onlookers, but nothing is by chance in the life of a Christian. God had His hand on Onesimus and Philemon like He has His hand on you and me. God is in control. So when, in our lives, certain things seem like they happened by chance, nope, our God has been in control the whole time. And that is a good thing to remember!

So thankful that God is in control,

Pastor Rich Kikuchi