Joseph of Egypt - Trust During Trials

I've been thinking a lot about adversity and trials, why we have them, how they can be good for us, and even how they may be essential for our spiritual progress (which goes a long way toward explaining why we're all on Earth in the first place). Now that I've learned this about adversity, I think I better understand the story of Joseph who was sold into Egypt.

Joseph had a lot of bad things happen to him, none of which he deserved. Okay, maybe he could have been a little more diplomatic toward his brothers, and probably should have kept one or two of his dreams to himself, but I personally don't think that gave his brothers any right to sell him into slavery. Yet, being sold into slavery was essential for what happened next.

Joseph came to work for Potiphar, and since he, Joseph, stayed faithful to the Lord despite his trials, everything he did flourished. Because Joseph was such a good servant, Potiphar put Joseph in charge of nearly everything while he, Potiphar, went on a trip of some kind (I don't remember all the details). While Potiphar was gone, his wife tempted Joseph to sleep with her. Because he resisted her, repeatedly, she accused him of sexual assault and had him arrested. He didn't deserve to be thrown into prison, but it was essential for what happened next.

In prison, Joseph stayed faithful to the Lord and continued to prosper. When two other prisoners had strange dreams, Joseph had the God-given ability to interpret them. One of those prisoners was the Pharaoh's butler, who got rehired to the same position. Later, Pharaoh had a strange dream, and his butler knew just who to call to interpret it.

Joseph was brought to interpret the Pharaoh's dream, in which it was revealed that there would be seven years on plenty followed by seven years of famine. Joseph was put in charge of storing food against the coming famine, and since he had remained faithful to the Lord through all his trials, his work went as well as it always had. Egypt was able to endure through a terrible famine, and even had enough food to sell to others, including Joseph's family.

From an eternal perspective, that series of unfortunate events was probably the best thing that could have happened, but Joseph didn't have that perspective. He didn't know why those trials were happening to him or what was going to happen next any more than we do. We can't see the future, and neither could he (unless he was interpreting a dream that predicted the future). Joseph probably felt about the same about his trials as we do about ours, but Joseph was wiser than some of us might have been.

Rather than blaming God for his trials and asking "why me?" Joseph stayed faithful to the Lord through all his troubles, and his afflictions were consecrated to his gain and to the benefit of millions.

The moral of the story is that, once again, God knows what He's doing. Sometimes bad things have to happen now so that good things can happen later. And in this case, God needed Joseph to stay faithful and worthy enough to maintain the gift of interpreting dreams in order for any of the suffering to have done any good. If Joseph hadn't stayed faithful, not only would hundreds of people have starved, but he personally would never have known in this life what all of those trials were for.

In our lives, there are trials. Sometimes God closes doors on us so He can guide us through others. Sometimes our suffering helps us to become stronger, wiser people, or puts us into a position where we can do more good. There is always a purpose for every trial and affliction God allows to happen to us. Our part is to be faithful to God despite our trials, and try to fulfill the purpose God intended them to have.