At Least You're Not in Jail in Egypt

Do you ever feel like you could be doing more? Maybe you’ve watched others around you get promoted or move on to bigger and better positions while you remain status quo. It can be a frustrating being left in a role that you feel over qualified for, or even just not getting the opportunity to demonstrate your best qualities.

This morning’s life journal reading looked at Joseph. This was a man who would become the controlling power leader in Egypt, second only to the figurehead Pharaoh. But as we read today, for years he worked as a slave, and then was a prisoner working to serve other prisoners. He must have felt fairly overlooked by both men and God. He had a dream as a kid that while he was the youngest in his family, he would not only lead them but also even become a leader for entire nations. I bet there were many dark days for Joseph when he felt like he would never achieve more than his present status. There were probably days when he questioned his own skills and talents, concluding that since no one else had yet to see the skills he had that he must not really have them.

Timing is a crazy thing. Our world is very immediate, and we are prone to judging life on present status. Most of us have no idea have our world will look like 3 years from now. Because of the pace of change we run at today, we really have no way of telling what life will be like in a few years. On days when it feels like you’ve hit a wall that you can’t break through, it’s good to remember a few things.

1) If you look back at where you were 5 years ago, it might give you hope that 5 years into the future could be very different as well.

2) If you’re under the age of 40, there’s probably a good chance that you have not risen to the level of leadership and influence that you will at some day. Most of the real difference makers in the world have their greatest years of influence between 40 -60.

3) Joseph was a convicted rapist and had sold out his former boss. Even these accusations did not prevent Pharaoh from putting him in power. He was so convinced that God had made this guy a great leader that he just did it (Gen 41). If God wants it.... it’ll happen.

Sometimes stressing out over current circumstance is really just a matter of having more patience and more perspective. If your job is not an Egyptian jail… then maybe it ain’t so bad.