When I was going through a lot of the events that drove me to write my first book, Finding God in the Wilderness, there were two primary stories in scripture that I spent a lot of time in. The first, of course, was the story of the Exodus about how the Israelites literally wandered through the wilderness. The other one was the story of Joseph (found starting in Genesis 37). I absolutely love the story of Joseph, especially the older I get and the more life experiences that I have.

I had a job several years ago that was absolutely miserable every single day. It wasn’t the work that was miserable, rather it was a couple of coworkers that made it hard. These particular coworkers loved to gossip. They would constantly be whispering to each other and often would go into one of their offices with the door closed so that they could more easily talk about others, often me (they didn’t realize I could often hear even when they had the door closed). It was incredibly discouraging. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am far from perfect. However, I try to be a hard worker and do whatever is expected of me at work. Knowing that I was often the topic of gossip was very frustrating, especially since one of the coworkers happened to be one of my superiors. That’s when I started to read the story of Joseph in a little different way.

Now, if you are familiar with the story you know that when Joseph was young, he was a bit of a bragger. He would tell his brothers of all his dreams that happened to involve them bowing down to worship him, probably not wise. This, along with Joseph being the obvious favorite with their father, caused the brothers to nearly kill him. They changed their mind at the last minute and decided to sell him into slavery instead. That is the moment God was really able to start doing some work in his life. Being in the position of a slave meant that he had no choice but to do what he was told to do. That is where some real maturity came in his life.

Sometimes we may not have a real choice of where we are at the moment. Maybe it is a job we don’t particularly love with a boss that gossips about us (like the position I was in), or possibly something much worse like a cancer diagnosis, loss of a job, or death in the family. What we can choose though is how we react to that situation. It is so easy to become negative, depressed, or even become like the people who are oppressing us. But we are called to a higher standard. Sometimes living up to a higher standard may end us up in a more frustrating situation, it sure did for Joseph. In holding to strict purity standards, he ended up in prison (see Genesis 39). But, in the sovereignty of God, that prison was the very vehicle to get Joseph to the throne to become the second most powerful man in Egypt.

Maybe your current prison, or situation, is the very thing that God is going to use to get you right into the center of His will. Just like Joseph, it won’t be immediately. It may take years to get from the place God currently has you to where He wants you, but can you choose to become a man or woman of integrity while you go from promise to fulfillment. It will take integrity though. Had Joseph given in to the desires of Potiphar’s wife, he probably wouldn’t have ended up in prison. On the other hand, he may have never left Potiphar’s household and probably would not have fulfilled his calling if he would have compromised.

I hope you will choose the path of integrity. Work hard, turn the other cheek, and speak highly of the very people who wish ill on you. God is glorified when we are Christ-like. The path to being promoted to where God wants you to be is through humbling yourself enough to be a servant wherever you may be. Perhaps, you are exactly where God wants you, He is just waiting on you to serve right where you are!