Whether in power or in prison, Joseph’s life was hope-filled, meaningful and successful, not because he worked so hard or received what he deserved, but because God was with him. The Lord was with him in success—and the Lord was with him in prison.
How Good Is Your Life?
Is the life you’re currently living the one you always wanted for yourself?
Did you think you’d be married by now? Or that you’d still be married? If you are married, did you marry when you thought you would, or whom you thought you would?
What about your job? Not what you hoped for? Do you feel like your gifts are being wasted? Do you dream about doing something different with your life?
Maybe you wish you were living somewhere else? You long to be closer to home (or farther away)?
The reality is that all of us can imagine something better for ourselves than our circumstances today. The greater reality is that, if you love and follow Jesus, God always writes a better story for you than you would write for yourself. The “better” is based on this: God himself is the best, most satisfying thing you could ever have or experience, and, therefore, fullness of life is ultimately found not in any earthly success or relationship or accomplishment, but in your proximity to God through faith.
The dark side of this good news is that you may have to walk through pain, disappointment, rejection and suffering for 70 or 80 years. The brighter (and prevailing) side says God never makes a mistake in choosing good for you. Everything you experience—expected or unexpected, wanted or unwanted, pleasing or painful—is God’s good plan to make you his own (John 10:27–29).
The Secret of Contentment
A couple thousand years after Joseph ruled and was then left to rot in prison, Paul lived and wrote the same things about life.
I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:11–13)
What is the secret of joy and contentment in the face of whatever life brings? It’s centering and anchoring our joy and contentment in Christ, rather than in life. John Piper says, “When we have little and have lost much, Christ comes and reveals himself as more valuable than what we have lost. And when we have much and are overflowing in abundance, Christ comes and he shows that he is far superior to everything we have.”
