Life has ways of throwing different curves at us. In most cases, it can derail us from our vision, however, this shouldn’t be the case if we truly believe in our vision or have a depth of conviction on where we should be.
If you look at the story of Joseph from the Bible, his life had series of highs and lows. The beginning of his troubles started when his brothers sold him off as a slave. He must have thought that was the end of it all. How could his dream ever come true with a new identity as a slave?
It is Important to note that Joseph was his father’s favourite son, therefore he probably didn’t do any house chores at home. However as a slave he quickly developed a hardworking mindset coupled with trusting that God had a good plan for him. This led to a promotion where he was in charge of his master’s (Potiphar) entire estate and enjoyed lots of privileges. He maintained integrity and faith in God.
Soon again, he had his second test when his master’s wife framed him for attempted rape, because he refused to go to bed with her on several occasions, just when he didn’t think it could get worse, he ended up in prison. He was soon made heads of all prisoners. This tells me he continued to maintain the same integrity and diligence in all he did.
Joseph had a gift of interpreting dreams and was willing to use it to help others despite being in prison. As such he interpreted for two 2 ex-servants of the King. The interpretations all came to pass which saw one of the servant return to his post in the King Palace. And sometime later in the future, the servant introduced Joseph to the king when he was struggling with understand his mysterious dreams.
Joseph was able to interpret the King’s dreams and was proactive to provide solutions to the meaning of the dreams. This resulted in Joseph becoming the Prime Minister of Egypt at a very crucial time in the country
What can we draw from Joseph?
Joseph believe in God and never for once doubted God which laid the foundation of how he lived his life. He had the fear of God.
He developed a hardworking mindset. As pointed earlier from being a “pampered” boy to a slave, then to prison.
He had integrity as a prisoner and when he was in charge of his master’s estate. As such refusing to have a sexual relationship with his boss’s wife.
Self development. Joseph developed himself even when he was in prison. Taking up responsibility while in prison helped to develop his management skills. His management skills were noticed and led to him been in charge of an estate. Even after he was sent back to prison for a false accusation he quickly put in charge of his prison. I can imagine the prison had little and limited resources that had to be managed wisely. This was the foundation which helped in managing the food supply of an entire country.
Generosity. Joseph was generous. I mean the average person in prison will be more worried about himself and his survival. This wasn’t the case with Joseph. He was willing to hear the worries of fellow prison not knowing that one of the prisoners will be key in his promotion to Prime Minister.
There are more qualities we could draw his life. Above all faith in God and the fear of God is prerequisite to chasing and achieving your dreams regardless of what life throws at you.
