Have you ever experienced a crisis in your life? Persecution? Being mistreated by someone? You got a raw deal? Stuck in the “life’s not fair” narrative? Life just keeps knocking you down? Or fill in the blank________!

I have walked through hardships and many tough circumstances. I completely understand that walking through any of these is not fun, but there is a nugget that most of us never pick up through these difficult times.

You will quickly discover how real your relationship with Jesus Christ is in the midst of these tough places.

Your response to any of the trials that life throws at you will reveal what’s really inside of you and it will reveal the depth of your relationship with Jesus! When we step into one of these narratives we have choices; we can trust our circumstance to the Lord or deal with them in our own strength and probably crash and burn.

We all have dreams but often the reality of our life doesn’t line up with the picture we’ve painted in our minds, right?

Do you ever have those moments where you ask God, “why me?” I know I do! I wrote an article sharing a glimpse of the trials of Corrie ten Boom and realized that a huge illusion we have about our life, is that somehow we are in complete control of it.

Let’s take a deeper dive by stepping into the story of Joseph, the Old Testament guy.

Let’s pick up his story in Genesis 37. Joseph was seventeen years old, he was a shepherd and he was the favorite son of Jacob. Remember the coat of many colors that Jacob made for him? Joseph is living the dream.

In the midst of “living the dream” something was brewing behind the scenes. A hatred for Joseph began to take hold in his brothers fueled by this favoritism. Joseph being overconfident and clueless about this growing hatred, steps right onto a land mine by rubbing this dream about his future supremacy and his brothers’ submission to him. How do you think that went over? Well, it intensified their hatred towards him and they wanted to kill him.

This stunt got Joseph a one way trip to a death pit. One of his brothers manged to rescue him by convincing the others to sell him to a caravan heading to Egypt instead of killing him, so off to Egypt Joseph went.

The Lord was with Joseph!

Hmmm…Joseph was no longer “living the dream” and probably was thinking that life sucked right about now, but the Lord was with Joseph.

Going to pick up the pace of the story a bit.

In a moment, Joseph’s life was changed from being the beloved son to a slave in the unknown land of Egypt. Upon his arrival his sightseeing was cut short because he was sold to Pharaoh’s captain Potiphar to be a servant in his house, but the Lord was with Joseph.

Picking the story back up in Genesis 39, things were starting to shape up for Joseph. Potiphar entrusted him with charge of all of his house affairs due to his work ethic. Pretty cool, huh? Not really, because it was short lived. Due to the false accusation of Potiphar’s wife to her husband, because Joseph would not sleep with her, Joseph was cast into prison. Joseph paid the price for impeccable integrity, but the Lord was with Joseph.

At this point you might argue, why didn’t God rescue him from his troubles?

Great question, but let’s keep going with the story.

Joseph found favor with the guards in prison and things were going well for being in prison. Later, because of his divine ability to interpret dreams, he thought he was going to get out by helping the chief cup-bearer (who was also in prison)…that falls through — but The Lord was with Joseph.

Two years later, the cup-bearer (who was now out of prison) remembers Joseph’s divine ability to interpret dreams because Pharaoh was deeply troubled by a dream he had and no one could figure it out. Joseph gets a get-out-of-jail-free card and finds himself standing before Pharaoh, the most powerful man on the planet at the time to see if he could give it a go.

Because the Lord was with Joseph, he interprets the dream to a future time of abundance that would be followed by a time of great famine. Pharaoh rewarded Joseph with overseeing the lands of Egypt and in these prosperous times he stored up the abundant harvest in preparation for tough times ahead.

So after many years of suffering and struggle, God made Joseph the most influential person second to Pharaoh in all known world at that time. His wisdom and planning saved lives of people from not only Egypt but many other nations. This is where the plot thickens because the famine brings his brothers from Israel to Egypt.

How does it end?

Remember the mistreatment that Joseph endured at the hands of his own brothers? Well, he forgave them and persuaded them to settle in Egypt with their father, Jacob during the time of famine.

And I love how the story comes full circle in Genesis 50:19 – 21; Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 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. Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

Awesome!

Many Christians assume that in these situations that God is not with them. Most of us forget that the message of Scripture is very clear that God is most powerfully present in these tough situations.

I find it inspiring that through all the trials and temptations that Joseph was faced with; he showed integrity, honesty, solid work ethics, his actions showed a confidence in God and he was faithful to God even when it didn’t feel like God was being faithful to him. Wow!

So often we’re haunted by the things that God “could have done” in our lives, but He didn’t. We all have a really important decision – will we put our faith in God or in our circumstances? When you find yourself in a situation where you feel like God doesn’t care, put your faith in what Scripture tells us about the nature of God. Remember, “He will never leave you or forsake you.”

Many of us get stuck in the “what God is NOT doing” narrative. Or many of us get stuck treating God like a genie, thinking that if we jump through enough religious hoops He will somehow grant us whatever we want. That’s not how it works and that’s why we ALL need to get to the place where Joseph was — trusting God despite our circumstances.

Let’s bring it all together with some lessons we can all learn from Joseph’s life:

1) God’s plans and purposes are far greater than our own!

2) God provides and blesses those who persevere to follow Him.

3) Suffering to God’s people is not always bad! God can use the most painful time of our life for His good.

4) There is value in self-control living in the do-whatever-you-want culture.

5) God honors patience and perseverance in time of troubles.

6) Strive for honesty and strong work ethics. They are sadly missing these days.

7) There is something to be said about fear of Lord and faithfulness to Him.

Even though your life might suck right now, do you have the courage to trust God despite your current circumstances?

Pick up a copy of my book, Heartstone: A Journey out of the midnight of my soul.

Heartstone is a journey of destiny, a story of a life turned upside-down for the best possible reason. Step into the story and discover what happens when a broken life has a head on collision with a broken world! [WARNING] This book isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s for those who have the courage to face life head on and walk it out with God!