"Then Joseph said to his brothers, 'Come close to me.' When they had done so, he said, 'I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt." (Genesis 45:4-8 NIV)
Talk about a godly perspective! Three times in this short passage, Joseph tells his brothers that it was God who sent him to Egypt, not them. This was not just pious talk, either. Joseph really believed that God had orchestrated things so that he could be used to deliver his entire family (and their households) from the time of famine, which would last another five years.
Imagine if we had that type of perspective on our own situations. You may be going through things which you don't understand, and wondering why it seems that God has abandoned you. He hasn't. We just have to remember that He holds all the pieces of the puzzle. He alone has the wisdom and power to bring about all that is truly best for us, from an eternal perspective.
Joseph could have become bitter and angry during his long years of imprisonment. Instead, he learned to trust in the character of God. We can also see that his focus is not just upon himself and his troubles. Instead, looking at things from a wider perspective, he can trust that God is also working out His plan in the lives of others around him.
It's not all about us. That may be a blow to our self-importance, but we probably need it. Besides, do you think Joseph ever imagined he would be ruler of Egypt and get to save the lives of great multitudes of people besides his own family? For God's plans are not small plans. He is dealing with all of eternity in mind. We are not able to come up with plans which are better than His for our lives.
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