If there is one (of many things) that i struggle with, it's most certainly "patience". It's always been "about me", when I wanted it, and in the way I expected it. I'm selfish... tragically, beautifully, heterosexually selfish. But God decided to shake things up, metamorphasize from a boy into... an older boy - Someone who is a better version of "the boy".

He showed me examples of patience that I found amazing and amazingly impossible (for me). He showed me Joseph - sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, falsely accused by his boss' wife, and ended up imprisoned in Egypt. He didn't do much wrong, did nothing that justly deserved such a fate, and yet he remained patient.

And yet, Joseph was taken down a path where he didn't deserve his punishment. Yes, he became 2nd in command in Egypt. Yes, he coulda' rubbed it in his brothers' faces when the time came (won't lie - I def would've!)... But he was bigger than that. Actually, he was smaller than that because he gave it to God to play it all out.

What "punishment" have we gone thru, whether justified or not, where we ended up exonerated (in some manner), but we let everyone know that we were the victim? Strutted around like a wounded peacock, making sure that the people involved were 'properly set straight'? There is no "God" in that.

Joseph showed his brothers, tribe, nation even, the "God" in him, by not only saving them from famine, but also forgiving them of their wrong-doing. Your misfortune, however appropriate or false, is the beginning of a story that shows the "God" in you, to everyone around you. No matter what has transpired, however hurt you may feel, pray for patience, perspective & peace in our Lord.