“But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” – Genesis 50:20

Joseph’s story is one my favorite biblical accounts. I love stories where the hero saves the day. And I especially love these stories when the hero starts out from incredibly humble origins. The theme of overcoming great challenge, surpassing it and thriving afterward resonates deeply with me. Joseph epitomizes all of that and more.

Genesis 37-50 tells us Joseph’s story. You probably already know it. In the very first chapter, in a horrible act of hatred and ultimate betrayal, we see Joseph, at the tender age of 17 years, unwillingly transformed from his father’s most favored son to a lowly slave in Egypt.

“But as for you, you meant evil against me…”

I cannot imagine what Joseph must have been feeling. Because even at my lowest moments, I still have my family around me and the security of my home. How terrified, how anguished, how bewildered Joseph must have felt to be ripped away from his family, his homeland, from everything he knew. The “Why?” of his situation must have swirled around in his head endlessly in those early days. And yet we learn something immensely important about Joseph during his first assignment in Egypt.

He has an incredible inner strength and his moral compass is set on God.

Joseph was unfamiliar with Egyptian customs, the gods they worshipped, and even their language. Yet we know he somehow overcame those obstacles with great aplomb. Despite his situation, he went about his duties with such attention and diligence that he earned himself a position of favor with his slave master, becoming Potipher’s personal attendant and eventually the overseer for Potipher’s entire household. Genesis tells us that from that moment forward, Potipher’s household and his possessions, even extending to his fields, are blessed. He entrusted everything to Joseph. And Joseph succeeded in everything he did for Potipher. But at the height of this success, Joseph is wickedly betrayed yet again by Potipher’s own wife when she falsely accuses him. And Joseph is sent to prison.

And Joseph is back to this: “But as for you, you meant evil against me…”

From favored son to slave…from Overseer to prisoner, Joseph’s story is wrought with pain. Betrayed twice. And now resting at the bottom of the barrel of Egyptian society. I would expect him to be beside himself with grief, overcome by immense anger and outrage, and past any desire to continue on. And yet we know he isn’t, not that the Bible mentions anyway. Even as a prisoner, Joseph comported himself with dignity and care. So much so, that we read how he finds favor with the jailer, and is eventually put in charge of all the prisoners and whatever else needed to be done to successfully run the prison. Are you kidding me? Who does that? How do you process this kind of incredibly painful betrayal, not once but twice, in such a way that you can carry on determinedly and gracefully and earn high favor in your new environment? It’s unbelievable, and frankly beyond my understanding.

Only God.

If you haven’t guessed already that God was very much present for Joseph during this time, what happens next in Joseph’s life story can only be explained by an almighty hand guiding events. Genesis tells us that while in prison, Joseph rubs shoulder’s with Pharoah’s baker and cup-bearer. He accurately interprets their confusing dreams. And as a result, when Pharoah has a dream he cannot understand and Egypt’s wise men cannot figure it out, Joseph is called upon from the prison to interpret Pharoah’s dream. And thus begins the climax of the story.

You know how it ends. God reveals the meaning of Pharoah’s dream to Joseph and he tells Pharoah its meaning: 7 years of plenty followed by 7 years of famine. But here’s where it gets really crazy. Pharoah is so impressed by Joseph, that he installs him as ruler over Egypt! At 30 years of age, Joseph becomes the highest ranked ruler of all of Egypt, second only to Pharoah himself. Joseph, a Hebrew, a lowly Egyptian slave, an Egyptian prisoner!…now RULES Egypt.

The magnitude of this is staggering.

We know, from reading Genesis, that the 13 years Joseph spent in slavery and as a prisoner, managing Potipher’s household and later managing the prison, taught him valuable organizational and leadership lessons. With those skills and the hand of God guiding him, Joseph leads the people of Egypt to store their excess grain for 7 years, and by doing so saves the entire nation and some of the surrounding areas from the following 7 years of famine.

Did you catch that? While Joseph was at his lowest, he was learning the skills he would need to fulfill God’s purposes later. “…but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”

There is much debate about whether God actually causes bad things to happen to people or whether He just allows the nature of sin to take its course. Whichever way you tend to look at it, Joseph’s story illustrates how God uses humble people to achieve great things, and how He is present even in the worst situation, ready and able to use it for His glory and purposes.

When we are in the trenches of a particularly challenging season, we may not be able to see the bigger picture. We often cannot imagine how anything good can come of our situation. We cannot see how it’s possible for God to be glorified through our circumstances.

Joseph’s story is the perfect answer to those questions.

It is not our job to worry. Nor is it our job to speculate on what the end result might be. Luke 12:25 asks us, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?” By studying the example of Joseph, I suggest that our only job is to stay the course, regardless of our circumstances, remaining faithful to God and his precepts, and ‘doing everything to the best of our ability as if working for the Lord’ (paraphrase of Colossians 3:23). From such humble and steadfast service, God can do magnificent things.