"Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather" (1 Corinthians 7:21).  The Roman world in Paul's day was saturated with slaves.  It was a common thing for a slave to become a Christian.  Onesimus is an example of this.  When one reads the book of Philemon (also by Paul), there is no plea from Paul to Philemon to buy Onesimus' freedom.  Paul's only request for Onesimus was Philemon's forgiveness - a beautiful picture of imputation.  This is not an attempt to condone slavery but a reminder of God's sovereignty overriding the evil actions of sinful men.

Jacob's descendents spent 430 years in Egypt and probably the majority of that time was spent in slavery.  This meant that generations of people were born as slaves, lived as slaves, and died as slaves. All the while, no doubt, they were praying to God for deliverance from slavery and captivity without any apparent answer - until the appointed time.  It seems that slavery or difficult circumstances (e.g., oppression by a communist government or cruel dictator) have been used by God for the furtherance of His purposes.  This is a disturbing thought for those who have never thought of God accomplishing His will in this way.  Nevertheless, when one reads of God's foretelling of this event to Abraham (Genesis 15:13-16), it is undeniable that sometimes God works in this way.  The truth is, God put His people into slavery so that the very act of delivering them would give Him a global reputation - make Him famous.  But there is yet another example of God's use of slavery and suffering to accomplish His purposes.

Joseph didn't get into Egypt with a passport.  He came in under the wire through the forced foreign labor program.  When Joseph gets pulled out of prison and placed into the palace, it becomes clear to all the skeptics that God has been at work.  Joseph, though, had known it for some time according to Geneses chapter 45, "Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life (v. 5)....And God sent me (v. 7)....So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God (v. 8)....God hath made me lord of all Egypt (v. 9).  Joseph's conversation with his brothers reveals more than his forgiving attitude toward his brother's evil actions, it demonstrates his confidence in the sovereignty of God over the evil actions of men, "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" (Genesis 50:20).  This serves as a dual explanation: it tells us that evil men are free (and responsible) to make sinful and harmful decisions; but that God is able (without them having a clue) to use their actions in a way which serves His purposes (Romans 8:28).  Moreover, this is something that we should learn to acknowledge with Joseph because God is not blind and oblivious to dictators and communism and slavery.

We are not promised to know why God does what He does or permits what He permits.  We need be a people like Job, Joseph, Daniel, and others who refused to drop their faith like a "hot potato" just because the circumstances looked like God was unaware or unavailable.  God never releases - regardless of how it appears - the reigns of ruling His entire Creation.  Consider how the Scripture reveals that it was God who put Nebuchadnezzar in power at a given era in history and then expected all nations to submit to him (Jeremiah 27:5-8); and further, read how God brought Nebuchadnezzar to acknowledge God’s hand (Daniel 2:37-38; 4:34-37).  The fact is, some of God’s hard circumstances are His divine decrees which are working to bring men to an acknowledgement of His glory and to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ in way that would never happen under fair-weathered circumstances.  If God has done this with others throughout history, we should not be surprised for Him to do it today with us.