How many times in our careers have we said to ourselves or others, “I can’t believe this happened to me, I got (add your own personalized descriptive words).” For seemingly no fault of our own or so we think, we get the short-straw or get left behind, passed over, left out, or called on the carpet, etc. And we moan and groan, sometimes for a long time or even for the rest of our career, about how we missed our shot. What I have seen in people is that these “old stories” just drag them and others around them down. After time, the old stories need to be replaced with new ones and we need to get on with life and realize that from bad things that happen to us good can rise from them. There is no better story about this than Joseph who had way more than his fair share of bad things happen to him in his life and career. He gets sold into slavery by his brothers, he gets falsely accused of trying to rape his bosses wife, he gets sent to prison, he helps out others to get out of prison and then they forget him for years to come, and through it all he is separated from his family. And we moan over missing out on going on a business trip or being passed over for a promotion, or not getting an extra percentage point in our annual raise? I think Joseph had it just a bit worse off don’t you? If we doubt that good can come from bad, then hear the rest of Joseph’s story as he rises up to be the number two most powerful person in Egypt and the right hand person to Pharaoh. In his own words in Genesis 50:20 we hear him say to his brothers who had betrayed him and started the whole daisy-chain of events; “As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil. He brought me to the high position I have today so I could save the lives of many people”. Can there be a better story for helping us put into perspective the long term effects of the bad things that happen to us? Joseph’s character signature was that he never stopped trusting God to raise him above all of his trials. His faith was so strong that whatever happened he would accept it within God’s will for him. In the big scheme of things, we get bogged down with such minutia of work problems and let them fester that in comparison to Joseph they look silly. Don’t get me wrong, I know they feel like big weights at the time, but with turning them over to God, taking the attitude and approach of Joseph, we may well find that what we think is too heavy for us and too bad is not really that bad after all, and whatever it is, we can faithfully wait and see how it will turn to God’s good.

Reference: Genesis 50:20 (New Living Testament)