Devotionals

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(NOTE: I really do appreciate those who reviewed the first version of this article. It really helped me to see that the point i was trying to make was very poorly stated. So please, those of you who commented on the first version of this article, please do so on this revised version. Thanks--God Bless!)

If anyone had it rough--Joseph did. He had a lot of older brothers who sure didn't like him very much. Daddy played favorites and Joseph won every time. His brothers couldn't stand it. They threw him in a pit and decided to sell him to slave traders. And off to Egypt he went--once a favored son, now a pitiful slave.

Did he whine and spit and cry and pout and gripe, and say, "Poor me, I guess my life is over"? No! He did something about it! He became the best slave he could possibly be. And as a result, his master, Potiphar, put him in charge of the entire household.

But then, Joseph was accused of something he never did. Potiphar's wife begged Joseph to sleep with her, but Joseph took a stand! He did the boldest, most courageous, most spiritual thing he could've done--he ran away! He did the right thing. He was very faithful to His Lord. He was completely innocent! But back at Potiphar's place, Potiphar's wife told the whole lot that Joseph was a rapist. She cried rape, Potiphar called the cops, and Joseph went to jail. He was completely blameless and honorable, but he was sent to prison anyway.

Did he moan and whimper and mope and grumble, and say, "Poor me, I should just give up"? No! He did something about it! He became the best prisoner he could possibly be. And as a result, God allowed him to do a favor for the Pharaoh, which landed him a job as Prime Minister of all Egypt!

Joseph wasn't a man of excuses. He didn't wait for other people to do something about his problems. Joseph didn’t wallow in self-pity or pessimism. He was proactive. Instead of focusing on what he couldn't do, he got busy doing everything he could do. He sought out how to be a good steward in WHATEVER circumstances he faced. He looked his situation right in the eye and said, 'God means this for my good' (Genesis 50:20).

Unfortunately, we often don’t even hold a candle to Joseph’s example. Here we are—God’s children making bold claims about how much of a difference Christ makes in how we handle the things that come our way. But when trouble shows up, we act like the most pessimistic, hopeless bunch of grumblers there ever was. We fuss and moan about how unfair our situation is. We whine about how we don’t like how this or that is going. We kick the dirt, stare at the ground, and say, “that’s it—I quit!” As soon as our environment isn’t to our liking, we decide we’re not even going to try. We reach in and turn our “negative knob” up to “high,” and we flood the air around us with gloom and doom.

Thank God for Joseph! If he had acted like us, he would have never made it out of slavery or prison! You and I may very well have ten less chapters in our Bibles! But Joseph teaches us a concept that can revolutionize our lives: the stewardship of circumstances.

Yes, Joseph faced unbelievable disappointment. And no, Joseph couldn’t change his circumstances. He couldn’t make the hardships go away. He couldn’t control everything that happened to him. But he was in control of how he responded to those difficulties. He could’ve responded with pessimism, negativity, and hopelessness. But instead, Joseph said, “No matter how bad this situation looks, God could very well mean this for my good. So that’s how I’m going to act.”

We get unhappy with so many things—the way a relationship is going, the way our job is turning out, disappointment at school or even with a Bible class or ministry we’re involved in. What’s horrible though is that we sometimes act worse than a 2-year-old about that unhappiness. We plop down in a corner, cross our arms, pout, and gripe about the way things are, then we make excuses about why we aren’t doing anything about it. What good is that? How many people can you name in the Bible who accomplished amazing things for God by pouting and griping and making excuses?

If we want to get out of slavery and prison, then we need to learn from Joseph. Let’s throw our excuses in the garbage. Let’s get up out of the corner, stop our griping, and do the best we can with where we are. Let’s tap into the power Christ died for us to have (Philippians 4:13)! That strategy got Joseph a job as head over all Egypt. Who knows where the Lord may lead us if we do the same?

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