What Would You Do If . . .

So when the traders came by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty pieces of silver, and the Ishmaelite traders took him along to Egypt. Genesis 37:28

Talk about dysfunctional families! Joseph’s plight was unfair, undesirable, and unthinkable. His own brothers—the people who were supposed to love him and look out for him—sold him to foreign slave traders.

Where was God in all of this? What was Joseph supposed to think?

It was one of those moments in life that nobody wants but that so many need. The kind of moment that shows us where we really are with God. The kind of moment that truly defines us.

After Joseph was sold into slavery, he rode with the Ishmaelites to Egypt. He later served Potiphar with integrity but in obscurity. We don’t know how long he lived in this oblivion, waiting for God to do something. We just know how Joseph responded.

In the midst of his own crisis, Joseph concluded that God was in control and that he would somehow work things out. He couldn’t tell when, and he certainly couldn’t say how, but Joseph refused to define God based on his life circumstances. Rather, in the midst of tragedy, he chose to believe that God had a purpose for his life.

Life crises don’t just build our character, they confirm it. When trials and tragedies come at us, our understanding of God is put on display for all to see.

How do you respond when your life circumstances aren’t what you think they should be? Do you become angry at the world and angry at God? Or do you rest in the simple and wonderful fact that no matter what you are going through and no matter who or what caused it, God is in total control?

Lord, help me to always believe your promises, especially when circumstances are not what I had expected or hoped for.